Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
March 09, 2021 - 4:38 PM
Penticton's new urgent primary care centre will open by the end fo the month.
Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the opening of the new care centre, located at 101 - 437 Martin Street in a conference call today, March 9. The centre, which will contain 6,028 square feet of space including a reception area, waiting room, examination and consultation rooms, is scheduled for a phased March 31 opening.
The new service is designed to help those without a doctor connect with one, in addition to providing care for urgent health needs that don’t require a visit to the emergency room.
Dix said the care centre will provide more residents, including those living in poverty, those with mental health and substance abuse issues, families and seniors with complex care needs access to same-day, every day health care. The centre will provide a means for patients to get attached to a primary care provider if they don’t have one.
The centre will be staffed by 14 full time equivalent health care professionals, including physicians, a nurse practitioner, nurses and others.
Long-term primary care services will be available to people with mental health and substance use needs as well as women’s health.
Several Penticton organizations are collaborating on the new urgent and primary care centre.
Interior Health, the Ministry of Health, the South Okanagan Similkameen Division of Family Practice, the Martin Street Outreach Centre Association, OneSky Community Resources and several Indigenous groups are all part of the combined effort to eventually provide urgent and primary care to those needing health care short of a trip to an emergency department, for such things as sprains, cuts, high fevers and minor infections.
"We look forward to the integration of the Penticton UPCC in hopes it will strengthen primary care in the community," Doctors of B.C. president Dr. Matthew Chow said.
"Doctors of B.C. has a strong interest in ensuring people have access to the health-care services they need," Chow said. "We also emphasize the importance of measures that strengthen the long-term relationships between patients and their family doctor. These relationships have been shown to improve health outcomes, help avoid preventable illness and reduce the cost of health care,"
The centre — which will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week — is part of a local primary care network in the South Okanagan and Similkameen.
Services currently being offered at the Martin Street Outreach Centre will be transitioning to the Urgent Primary Care Centre.
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