Nanaimo will be getting a second clinic for urgent and primary care next year.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix was at 3260 Norwell Dr., known formerly as the Norwell Professional Centre, on Wednesday, July 17, to announce that the new clinic would be operational there in the spring of 2025.
"The new [urgent and primary care centre] will offer continuity of care and preventative care for patients who do not have a primary care provider and for those who require a period of follow-up supports after leaving the hospital," Dix said. "The [urgent and primary care centre] will connect more patients who have complex needs with a doctor and nurse practitioner."
According to a press release, the clinic will be open seven days a week and is expected to be able to handle more than 50,000 patient visits each year. It is intended for patients "who need support for their health concerns within 12 to 24 hours, but do not require an emergency department," the release noted, providing sprains, cuts, high fevers and minor infections as examples.
"What urgent and primary care centres have done, one of the things that makes them valuable is they provide coverage seven days a week into the evening as well," Dix said. "We know, you know and everyone knows sometimes when you need to see a doctor or nurse it often isn't between nine to five."
In the meantime, a "temporary stabilization clinic" opened last month at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital by referral only. The purpose of the temporary clinic is to provide follow-up care to patients discharged from the emergency room who don't have a primary care provider.
When the permanent clinic is operational, the temporary clinic will be closed, and its staff will be transferred over to the permanent site.
Diane Brennan, a board director with Island Health, said the clinic will be a "welcome addition" to the care provided at the Medical Arts Centre.
"This new [urgent and primary care centre] will provide wrap-around care for Nanaimo residents, supporting their primary care needs from prevention of illness, to diagnosis, to treatment – all from a dedicated team of health-care professionals who work together to seamlessly connect their patients care needs and provide timely access to integrated, comprehensive, culturally safe and trauma-informed primary care," Brennan said.
Dix said placing the clinic in the Country Club neighbourhood was due to avoid centralizing all the city's medical facilities in one area.
"We have Medical Arts in downtown … we have services around the hospital – you want to separate your facilities to cause more public access," he said.
The former Norwell Professional Centre was previously used as office space for an accounting firm, learning centre, law firm and insurance company. Construction work is currently underway to prepare the building for its future use.
