Access to Healthcare Services

Ministry of Health The Government is focused on increasing access to team-based quality, comprehensive, culturally safe, and person-and-family-centered primary care services for people across BC. The primary care strategy is working to support and build out longitudinal full-service family practice as the foundation of the health care system in communities of all sizes across the province, and to that end, the approach Government takes to allocating funding for this strategy accommodates for the challenges of delivering primary care in rural communities. To provide better access to quality primary care services, the Government is implementing primary care networks province-wide, including in many rural areas, as well as the ongoing hiring of allied health supports. The Government also continues to work with our Indigenous partners, including First Nations Health Authority FNHA, Mtis Nation BC, and the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres to promote culturally safe and appropriate primary care for Indigenous peoples in the province. The Government has implemented a range of initiatives to enhance patient care and availability of physician services in rural communities. The Joint Standing Committee on Rural Issues JSC, with representation from both the Government and Doctors of BC, is responsible for the BC Rural Physician Practice Programs, which support the provision of primary care services in rural communities. This includes the Rural Practice Subsidiary Agreement, which provides incentives for rural physicians based on their communitys level of isolation. Other JSC programs include the Rural GP Locum Program, the Rural Retention Program, and the Northern Isolation Travel Assistance Outreach Program. Additionally, the Government has implemented the Practice Ready Assessment BC PRA-BC program, which assesses internationally educated family physicians who completed their residencies in family medicine outside of Canada and provides an alternative pathway to licensure in BC. In exchange, participating physicians complete a three-year return of service in rural communities throughout the province. In November 2022, the Government announced the expansion of the PRA-BC program, tripling the number of seats available from 32 to 96 by March 2024. This announcement is part of the commitment by the Government to further remove barriers for those internationally educated family physicians. To support the recruitment of new family physicians across the province, the Government introduced new incentives to recent family medicine graduates through a new-to-practice family physician contract program in June 2022. Additionally, a new payment model, the Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model, will launch in February 2023 with the goal of stabilizing and addressing challenges in longitudinal primary care. Creative solutions like virtual care have also been introduced to meet British Columbians healthcare needs in rural and remote communities. Through the Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities Framework, patients in rural areas have improved access to virtual primary care services through new service pathways. This includes the First Nations Virtual Doctor of the Day Program and the First Nations Virtual Substance Use and Psychiatry Service, which provide Indigenous residents and their families with access to primary care physicians, psychiatrists, addictions specialists, and other providers specialized in culturally safe virtual care. In addition, a Northern Health Virtual Primary and Community Care Clinic has been introduced to provide patients in the region with virtual access to primary and community health-care services, and HealthLink BC 8-1-1. Virtual peer support is also available 247 for rural primary care providers who need real-time advice from doctors specializing in emergency, maternity, and pediatric care. British Columbia is also improving access to healthcare in rural and remote communities by enhancing the role of qualified BC Emergency Health Services paramedics to provide community paramedicine. Community paramedicine is intended primarily for rural and remote communities that are sometimes underserved and have aging populations living with chronic and complex diseases. The program objectives are to help stabilize paramedic staffing in these communities, and bridge health service delivery gaps identified in collaboration with local healthcare teams. In 2021, community paramedic positions increased to almost 165 part-time and full-time service 100 communities in BC. The Ministry understands the need to balance patient and family preference with patient safety. Highly specialized medical services require specialized equipment and staff who need a minimum number of cases to maintain competency. Not every community has the population required to support the safe delivery of such services; therefore, travel is sometimes required. Travel Assistance Program TAP BC offers discounted fares to BC residents traveling in province for specialist medical care. TAP BC is a partnership between the Ministry of Health and private transportation carriers. Eligible services include non-emergency medical specialist services closest location outside community, diagnostic and laboratory procedures etc. Northern Health Authority, Northern Health Connections, uses a contractor to provide cost friendly transportation for patients traveling out of town for non-emergency medical appointments in Vancouver and northern BC. In the fall of 2019, BC Bus North was introduced after Greyhound stopped operating northern routes and provides schedule service to approximately thirty-nine northern communities. The Government is committed to working toward achieving a sustainable health care system that best supports the needs of all British Columbians, including those living in all regions of the province. The Government is focused on building a strong primary and community care system, which is one that helps patients maintain health over their lifetime and improves overall quality of life in rural communities in BC.