FP says Alberta's way of funding primary care clinics is better than BC's

The new Chilliwack and Fraser Heath Rural Primary Care Centre has been unable to find anyone to staff it since it opened in May, 2022. A local family doctor, who spoke with Terrace Standard on the condition of anonymity said four nurse practitioner positions remain open and that one physician who was reportedly successfully hired has since decided against taking the spot. The previous iteration of the primary care clinic located at Chilliwack General Hospital has four doctors and what the FP called a “handful” of nurse practitioners, none of whom have decided to work at the new location. Read: B.C. Court of Appeal set to deliver ruling in private healthcare case “This has largely been due to the poor experience of the negotiations process and significant loss of autonomy that comes with working under the (Fraser) health authority,” the doctor said. “A few of the physicians were considering going elsewhere already but this has solidified the decision for them. “So we have a shiny, brand new clinic in Chilliwack that cost millions to build, and we actually have a net loss of physicians to work there.” The FP noted that there appears to be a preference from the B.C. government to employ nurse practitioners, whom the doctor noted are indeed part of the solution to the primary care shortage in the province, but certainly not the only piece of the puzzle. Read: Newfoundland and Labrador temporarily hikes pay for doctors in rural emergency rooms “When they work in teams with physicians, truly excellent care can be delivered,” the doctor said. “However, they are more expensive per patient, and will not solve our current crisis. We need to incentivize community-based family medicine, to attract new graduates and convince family doctors in semi-specialized niche practice that full scope community practice is just as well compensated and valuable.” The doctor emphasized that a team-based care model presents many advantages. “Teams of medical providers working together to care for patients is the future of medicine,” the doctor said. “This clinic is unique in its efforts to integrate traditional First Nations healers and culturally sensitive care as well. The research around team-based care is robust in that it serves patients better and actually saves the medical system money by preventing hospitalizations and ER visits.” However, there is more than one route to funding such a model and this doctor believes Alberta’s system is better than B.C.’s “Alberta provides funding directly to physician clinics based on the number and complexity of patients they cared for, and the clinics are free to use this funding to hire whoever they feel will best serve their patients,” the doctor said. “The funding was not allowed to be used for anything other than supporting team-based care. “B.C., on the other hand, has relied on the various health authorities to implement and administer the funds for these teams. This has resulted in significantly more bureaucratic processes and expenses in order to accomplish the same things.” The Terrace Standard reported that, at present, Fraser Health is overseeing the clinic in question from the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice—and as such has been responsible for finding doctors to staff it. “Small groups of local physicians wanting to provide care and attachment for local patients have been pitted against well-oiled health authority negotiating machines,” the doctor said. “This has resulted in many cases of prolonged negotiation processes costing thousands in redundant meetings alone.”

FP says Alberta's way of funding primary care clinics is better than BC's

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