A second urgent-and-primary-care centre is coming to Nanaimo next year to provide care for those with sprains, fevers, infections and other ailments that need quick attention.
No location was announced for the new centre.
The current UPCC in Nanaimo, Medical Arts Urgent and Primary Care Centre in Port Place shopping centre, opened in September 2019 and is one of eight in the Island Health region.
A temporary clinic has also opened at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to provide follow-up care for those discharged from the emergency department who don’t have a primary-care provider, Health Minister Adrian Dix said Wednesday.
The temporary clinic, which opened June 12, is available by referral only for patients with no doctor who have complex needs after discharge from hospital.
Appointments with physicians or nurse practitioners are available by referral on certain weekday evenings, along with virtual support on Mondays from 1:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Hours will increase gradually as more staff, nurse practitioners and physicians are recruited in the coming months, the Health Ministry said.
Once it’s fully operational, the temporary clinic will have a staff of 5.68 full-time equivalent (FTE) health-care workers, including 1.5 FTE family physicians and nurse practitioners and two FTE registered nurses, the ministry said.
When the new UPCC opens in 2025, it will include staff from the temporary clinic, it said, along with additional providers, nurses, mental-health clinicians, social workers and an Indigenous nurse liaison.
Expected to support just over 50,000 patient visits annually, the UPCC will be open seven days a week and provide same-day care for people who need help within 12 to 24 hours, but do not require an emergency department, including those with sprains, cuts, high fevers and minor infections, the ministry said.
The UPCC will also attach people to a family physician or nurse practitioner via the provincial attachment system.
Island Health board chair Leah Hollins said clinic space was also established recently in Comox, Campbell River and on the Saanich Peninsula, helping to reduce pressure on emergency departments and offering more care options closer to home.
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