1 day Ago By Josh Dawson
A new urgent and primary care centre that just opened in Northills Shopping Centre is expected to double the number of Kamloops patients seen each year in Interior Health clinics. The new facility officially opened its doors on Tuesday, serving Kamloops residents who require urgent primary care for non-life-threatening ailments within 12 to 24 hours. Kathy Doull, executive director of clinical operations for Interior Health said the clinic has been in the works for the last 18 to 24 months and will aid the number of patients seeking care and its primary care and learning centre on Columbia Street.
“It is full to the max, so we know that there's challenges with primary care providers across Kamloops and so it was determined that we needed a second one in order to meet the needs of the community,” she said. The clinic is expected to see nearly 85,000 patient visits per year once fully operational. Between the two clinics, Doull said the number of patients IH sees should effectively double.
She noted the UPCC’s location at Northills is accessible by public transit, has free parking and takes walk-ins. Appointments can also be booked by phone. Patients who come off the street will be triaged by a registered nurse and have their appointment book based on the urgency of the care needed.
Doull said patients aren’t served on a first come first serve basis. “The [medical office assistant] will take their information and put them into the system, and the nurse will determine, based on the triage, who is the healthcare provider that they need to see,” she said. “It might be a physician, it might be an NP, it could also be somebody in the community they should go see, the pharmacist, or we might need to set them up with mental health or substance services.
” Doull said residents in need of life-threatening care should still call 911 for an emergency room, but the UPCC will provide a full scope of primary care. “This is really for things such as rashes, stomach aches, other kinds of viruses, or burns, minor cuts, things like that,” she said. The UPCC will be staffed by a team of 15 on a day-to-day basis.
Doull said it would require an additional 40 staff to manage the centre, and is continuing to recruit all of the needed care providers. When the centre is fully staffed, each day the team will include two physicians, two nurse practitioners, four registered nurses, a licensed practical nurse and two to six medical office assistants depending on the time of day. Doull said IH worked with the Aboriginal Friendship Society to ensure the centre is a culturally safe space and with the Tk’emlups te Secwepmc language and culture department to create artwork and translate language on signage.
Doull said she thinks the UPCC will have a “great impact” on the community, noting many don’t have a primary care provider, struggle to access health care or have to go to the emergency room when they require a different type of care. “I think this provides more options for people to access a variety of health care providers in a team based care environment and really get connected to the care that they need,” she said. “There's many individuals who are not attached to a physician, and so this really helps to address that gap.
” The clinic is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.
m. until Dec. 2, after which it will open from 11 a.
m. to 6:30 p.m.
until Dec. 9, when it will then open fully from 7:30 a.m.
to 6:30 p.m. for in-person and virtual primary care services.
.
