Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
November 15, 2023 - 12:02 PM
With Vernon’s last walk-in clinic closed today, the Ministry of Health said it offered more than enough help to keep the clinic open.
Sterling Centre Clinic closed today, Nov. 15, leaving Vernon with no more walk-in clinics. In a previous interview, clinic owner Dr. Chris Cunningham said the Interior Health Authority was aware of what needed to be done to keep the clinic open.
“We worked very hard to avoid this situation and we’re saddened that we’re in this situation,” Dr. Cunningham said in a previous interview with iNFOnews.ca. He said the Ministry of Health had agreed, saying it had been in continuous contact with the clinic.
“Dr. Cunningham, the clinic owner, says he has not heard from the province or Interior Health since September. That is simply not true,” Minister of Health Adrian Dix said in an emailed statement Nov. 8. “Contact with Ministry of Health staff, namely the Primary Care Division, has been ongoing from last year.”
Dr. Cunningham had previously said the reason for the clinic’s closure was the lack of support staff: nurses, social workers, clinical assistants, etc., saying that the team of physicians was ready to keep going as long as they had an adequate support staff team.
The ministry said it had given the clinic over $75,000 in funding to keep it afloat and that its last offer of over $295,000 was declined by the clinic, resulting in the decision to close.
“In the end, it is clinic leadership's decision to close or stay open," Dix said.
“As part of the ministry’s efforts to keep the clinic open, the Sterling Centre Clinic: accepted Walk-in Stabilization Funding in the amount of $38,043.38 to keep the clinic open between February 1, 2023, to April 30, 2023, accepted Walk-in Stabilization Funding in the amount of $38,043.38 to keep the clinic open between August 1, 2023 to October 31, 2023, and declined Walk-in-Clinic Stabilization funding in terms of $296,493 for physician compensation and $75,000 per FTE for overhead costs to extend the clinic operations until March 31, 2024,” read a statement from the minister.
The Ministry of Health will continue to work to avoid negative consequences that will be felt in Vernon with the closure of the clinic, the minster said.
“We will continue to work with the local division of family practice and Interior Health as well as with family physicians, nurse practitioners and other local providers to ensure patients in Vernon are able to receive the care they need,” Dix said. “In the meantime, the Vernon UPCC continues to serve patients needing urgent and episodic care.”
Dr. Cunningham did not respond to a request for comment.
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