Welcome to the neighbourhood, the new Community Health Centre in Colwood, British Columbia! It provides a creative solution to address Canada’s ongoing shortage of family physicians. Mayor Doug Kobayashi leads the way with this effort. Its goal is to draw more family doctors by reducing the stressors that come with being a medical professional. Originally launched in January of this year with its very first physician – Dr. Cassandra Stiller. She moved from London, Ontario, along with her family, to welcome them into this adventure.
Colwood, an independent city with about 15,000 residents, has made considerable financial commitments to help make the clinic a success. To that end, the city has committed $500,000 at most to pay for rent, overhead, and staffing costs. Mayor Kobayashi wants residents to know that this new initiative won’t come at any extra cost to taxpayers. The clinic is just one aspect of their larger strategy. In the immediate term, we’re hoping to make eight family doctors to improve urgent access across the community of Surrey.
A 2024 national survey recently released by the Canadian Medical Association underscores how urgent such initiatives are. It shone a light on the fact that more than one-in-five Canadians – about 6.5 million adults – do not have a regular healthcare provider. In 2023, fewer than one-third of graduates from U.S. medical schools decided to go into family medicine. This has led to a worsening crisis for the profession.
A Solution for Patients
Even though the new Colwood clinic has just opened its doors, it’s already making a profound difference in the everyday lives of local residents. Sheila and Shayne Eldridge, both in their sixties, waited almost three years for a family physician. Ultimately they were able to get an appointment at the new clinic. The relief on their faces was unmistakable once they finally were able to receive care.
“It was like winning the lottery,” – Shayne Eldridge
“I started to cry. It was a very emotional experience for me to finally get the relief of having a physician to look after us,” – Sheila Eldridge
Dr. Stiller has quickly become an essential lifeline for her patients. Many of them have not had the opportunity to see a doctor in over five years. She points out that many people arrive with life threatening conditions that were undiagnosed for way too long.
“I’m seeing people who haven’t seen a doctor in 10 to 15 years and they’re presenting to me kind of for their first appointment. And we’re either diagnosing potentially a new diagnosis of high blood pressure or hypertension, discovering a new breast cancer,” – Dr. Cassandra Stiller
Dr. Stiller was happy to explain how her work is supported by the city. She notes that her attention can be fully directed to patient care instead of keeping an eye on administrative work.
“The idea or concept of the clinic was that the city would take over all the staffing, rent, coverage, those types of things. And I really just get to focus on the patient care aspect. And for me that was really something that intrigued me,” – Dr. Cassandra Stiller
A New Model for Healthcare
Colwood’s innovative approach seeks to ease the administrative burden faced by family doctors by employing them directly as municipal employees. This model allows healthcare providers to concentrate on patient care without worrying about the day-to-day challenges of running a practice. Mayor Kobayashi hopes that this strategy will make life easier for physicians as well. Along the way, it will better guarantee that patients get high-quality care.
“Here’s the bottom line — making it as simple [for the doctor] as possible,” – Mayor Doug Kobayashi
Kobayashi points out that this model gives physicians a defined salary and benefit plan. Colwood wants to lure more medical professionals to the region. It achieves that by fostering a workplace climate where physicians can succeed in their careers and fulfill their purpose in life.
“As an employee, we want you to be a doctor 100 percent of the time. No more administration; we’ll look after this. We’ll look after hiring your medical office assistants. We will give you a salary, a fixed salary. We will give you benefits, all the benefits,” – Mayor Doug Kobayashi
As you can imagine, healthcare experts are watching this closely. We assume they understand its potential to make telehealth the default way to receive medical care, especially in rural areas. Dr. Steven Lewis, a health policy expert at Simon Fraser University, says that life-saving solutions like Colwood’s plan are needed. Importantly, he is an optimist about the potential impact of these measures.
The Future of Colwood’s Healthcare Initiative
Colwood’s dedication to expanding healthcare access doesn’t end with what it already provides. In addition to these efforts, the city is working to train, recruit, and retain more family doctors. By the end of November, they expect to have two additional physicians on board at the clinic. This expansion comes at an important time, as it is in line with the city’s plan to attract eight family doctors over five years.
Even with plans that ambitious, Mayor Kobayashi says he’s aware of at least some risk that this project won’t be financially viable. He has been proactive in reaching out to provincial government officials to ensure their work complies with health regulations and to explore possible funding avenues.
“We don’t even know if this is a reality from a business case point of view,” – Mayor Doug Kobayashi
Kobayashi’s discussions with local legislative members eventually led to conversations with B.C.’s health minister at the time, Adrian Dix. At the heart of these efforts is his commitment to meeting healthcare challenges with sustainable solutions in communities such as Colwood.
As one of Forbes’ “10 Canadian Initiatives to Watch,” this initiative exemplifies a growing recognition that innovative solutions are necessary for Canada’s healthcare system to address new challenges. The numbers show the gap, with just eight percent of Canadian doctors being rural physicians in 2020.
