New urgent and primary care centre opens in Castlegar
By Contributor
People living in Castlegar will soon have better access to team-based urgent and primary care with the opening of a new urgent and primary care centre (UPCC).
“Castlegar has about 2,000 people who do not have a regular primary care provider. This needs to change,” said Katrine Conroy, Minister of Children and Family Development and MLA for Kootenay West, on behalf of Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “That is why, through the Province’s primary care strategy, we are announcing a UPCC in Castlegar to provide residents better access to same-day appointments and regular care. This centre will implement a team-based approach to ensure patients get the comprehensive care they need, when they need it.”
Dix said, “We are listening to people in B.C. and that is why we developed a primary care strategy. Through this strategy, we are announcing a UPCC in Castlegar to provide residents access with the comprehensive, team-based care they need. With this new centre, we are helping thousands of people who do not have a family doctor get attached to one and for others to have more access to same-day appointments and regular care.”
The Castlegar UPCC will be operated by Interior Health and be located at the Castlegar and District Community Health Centre. Expected to open at the end March 2020, the centre will support both regular, ongoing health care for people who do not have a primary care provider and urgently needed primary care services for residents. It will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The urgent and primary care centre team in Castlegar will include general practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and medical office assistants. The team will provide comprehensive primary care services, including on evenings and weekends. To further support the primary care needs of patients, the hours for laboratory and X-ray services will be extended.
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