Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
February 02, 2024 - 2:19 PM
The BC government is adding 75 more health-care workers to the Vernon area, including family doctors and nurse practitioners through a primary-care network.
Premier David Eby was joined by Health Minister Dix and Vernon-Monashee MLA Harwinder Sandhu at a news conference at Vernon Jubilee Hospital this afternoon, Feb. 2, were they committed to giving the North Okanagan a healthcare boost over the next four years.
"I know many people are worried about access to family doctors," Eby said in a news release. "The work we are doing in Vernon and the broader North Okanagan and Shuswap region to hire dozens of primary health-care providers will mean more people will get better access to the services they need."
It's part of the North Okanagan primary care network, a program meant to better connect patients with different services more efficiently.
Over the next four years, the province will hire five family doctors, 20 nurse practitioners and 11 registered nurses, along with other positions like social workers, mental health nurses and dieticians.
"By investing in the development of a new primary-care network in Vernon and adding more health-care professionals in the community, we are demonstrating our commitment to connecting more people to health-care services," Dix said in the release.
The funding announcement comes more than two months after the city's last walk-in clinic closed.
The primary-care network will create and "integrated system" of care for patients, better coordinate services for people with chronic conditions and extend hours for urgent care. The province will pay $12.8 million per year for the newly-created primary care network, with a $1.8 million one-time initiating fund.
"This new primary-care network is great news for our communities. It will help provide better access to care and I look forward to having more health-care workers supporting people in the region," Sandhu said in the release.
Along with the new care network announcement, the premier and health minister announced more long-term care beds for Vernon and a new psychiatric unit at Vernon Jubilee Hospital.
The long-term care beds will be an expansion to Creekside Landing, bringing the total of publicly funded suites to 160, adding 90 to the facility. The three-storey expansion brings an additional six private beds to the facility.
A new in-patient psychiatric ward will be built adjacent to the Vernon hospital on vacant land. It will be connected to the hospital's main building via a tunnel and will also including a parkade with 81 spots.
The new psych ward is expected open by 2029 after three years of construction.
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