Photo: City of Vernon
According to North Okanagan Community Futures, approximately 20,000 people in the North Okanagan currently do not have a family doctor.
The information comes as the organization begins taking the next steps to establish a community health center in Vernon.
Community Futures Executive Director Riga Horsfield said CHC's business plan was just completed on Friday. She said the plan speaks to the demographics and needs of the community and how many backlogs there are in the area.
“My understanding is that the population is hovering around 19,000 to 20,000,” Horsfield said.
According to the BC Center for Disease Control, 78.6 per cent of Vernon/Coldstream residents had a primary care physician in 2021, but exact numbers are unknown.
Community health centers were originally established as non-profit clinics within the community. The idea is that by involving various stakeholders, doctors won't have to deal with the business side of opening a clinic.
The clinic aims to provide an easy place for doctors to drop by when they leave their residency. Horsfield previously told Castanet that the clinic could offer a comprehensive range of services, including mental health services, addiction services and nurses.
Horsfield said much of the clinic remains up in the air as the team moves on to next steps, which will require collaboration with the Department of Health.
“This is still in the preliminary stages, but we want to see this move forward as soon as possible,” Mr Horsfield said. “From the department's perspective, we have no idea how long this process will take.”
Vernon residents haven't used a walk-in clinic in more than five months. The city's last walk-in clinic in Sterling Center closed in November, and the city's penultimate clinic in Superstore closed in September.
Lake County's walk-in clinic has expanded its walk-in capabilities twice to provide care to North Okanagan residents without a doctor.
Castanet asked the Ministry of Health how long it usually takes to process applications, but the Ministry said it would not be able to meet the deadline. Castanet also asked for the ministry's statistics on uninfected cases in the North Okanagan, but the ministry failed to meet the deadline.
