Premier Horgan announces new Urgent and Primary Care Centre in Prince George

Residents in the Northern Capital will soon be able to have access to healthcare providers late into the night, as well as on weekends.

This comes as the Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, was in town to make the announcement that Prince George will be launching the use of a primary-care network, which will also see the opening of a new urgent primary-care centre.

$4.7 million will be provided by the provincial government annually by the third year to the Prince George network, including the new primary-care centre as new positions are added and patients are attached.

.@BCGovNews has announced the #CityofPG will receive an urgent primary-care centre at Parkwood Place Mall. pic.twitter.com/v28Q5vWOXg

— Ethan Ready (@EthanReady) April 17, 2019

Scheduled to open in June of this year, the Prince George Urgent and Primary Care Centre will be located at Parkwood Place Mall.

Horgan also announced that the centre, alongside the region’s primary care network, will recruit more than 30 health-care providers, which will include 26 nursing and allied healthcare professionals, one general practitioner, two nurse practitioners, one clinical pharmacist, an elder to ensure cultural safety and two new resources to support extended access to lab services in the community.

The centre will provide team-based care to the 87,500 residing in Prince George and the surrounding area. It’s said that when at full capacity, the new centre is expected to add space for 8,000 additional patient visits per year.

Sue Peck, President of the Nurse Practioner Council of NNPBC brokedown what exactly team-based primary care means.

“It’s collaborative, it’s accessible, it has collective energy that takes all of the strengths of all of the healthcare providers, and the ultimate goal is that it’s patient-centred,” she said. “So when you come to a primary-care clinic, you should get the services you require from the person who’s most able to deliver those services.”

The Minister of Health, Adrian Dix, was also on hand for the announcement.

“The urgent and primary-care centre and the primary-care network in Prince George will ensure the health needs of people living in the community and the surrounding areas are met in a faster, more comprehensive and efficient way,” said Dix. “New services will include extended hours o care, teams of interdisciplinary health care professionals and attachment opportunities, which will offer a solution for the approximately 2,000 people in Prince George who do not have a consistent primary-care provider.”

Minister of Health, @adriandix says the primary-care network will have #CityofPG’s 32 clinics and two community health centres will work collaboratively to provide residents with team-based care.@northernhealth_ @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/oH9bqaxtls

— Ethan Ready (@EthanReady) April 17, 2019

Dix added that a benefit to the new clinic is intended to aid in the relief of Prince George’s emergency rooms.

“The best way to deal with a busy E.R. is to provide better services everywhere else,” he said.

The centre will offer drop-in team-based care in the evenings and weekends for people with non-life threatening conditions and don’t necessarily require the expertise found in emergency departments. During the weekdays, providers will be available on-site to provide follow-up care, as well as care coordination, through scheduled appointments.

Come June, the centre will be open between Monday and Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday to Friday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. over the course of the weekend on Saturday and Sunday.