View Royal council has approved a $30,000 grant to address the local shortage of maternity- and primary-care doctors — one of several grants being given to non-profit groups as part of the budget process.
The $30,000 goes to the Westshore Primary Care Society to help with recruiting a foreign-trained doctor for its Grow Health clinic, which has lost three family doctors since 2022.
“The shortage of primary care physicians is one of the greatest challenges facing residents of our town and region,” said View Royal Mayor Sid Tobias.
“Community wellness is a town priority and with many of our residents now lacking prenatal and primary care, council is proud to respond to [the society’s] request for funds to recruit a new physician.”
Grow Health had nine family doctors serving 7,200 patients before the three doctors left, leaving many people scrambling.
“The importance of recruiting family doctors cannot be overstated,” said society president Dr. Spencer Cleave. “It has become a regular occurrence that women are delivering babies with no prenatal care and hundreds of patients, many of them in View Royal, are now without a family doctor.
“We are grateful to View Royal for recognizing and helping address the urgent need.”
Here are other grants approved by council:
• $50,000 for the Greater Victoria School District for its crossing-guard program
• $7,500 for the LifeCycles Project Society, which supports the local food system by growing and sharing produce
• $3,000 for View Royal Out of School Care Society
• $3,000 for the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre
• $2,500 for the Vancouver Island South Film and Media Commission
• $2,000 for the Juan de Fuca Performing Arts Society
• $725 for the ReImagine West Shore Community Society, which promotes sustainable practices
• $500 each for the Capital Region Food and Agriculture Initiatives Roundtable, the View Royal Elementary School Parent Advisory Council and the Victoria Brain Injury Society
• $250 for the Access West Shore Society, which advocates for accessibility and inclusivity
View Royal’s proposed budget is open for public comment at https://viewroyal2024.ethelo.net/ until April 1, with results to be reported to the committee of the whole on April 9.
An overall increase of 6.4 per cent in property tax revenue is proposed for 2024, before estimated taxation from new construction is added in.
The increase will mean an added $164 in property taxes for the average residential property in the municipality.
