On March 1, 2023, the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia announced an agreement in principle that will invest $27.47 billion in federal funding over 10 years in BC – including $3.32 billion for a new bilateral agreement focusing on shared health care priorities.
With support from the Government of Canada, the Government of BC will invest in a range of initiatives with many of the details still to come. Family physicians’ voices must be central in this planning.
Currently, BC health care is in crisis. Family medicine is the foundation of the health care system yet almost one million British Columbians cannot access a family physician. We are asking government to ensure every British Columbian that wants an ongoing relationship with a family physician has that choice.
We need to recruit and retain more family doctors to the practice of family medicine. While we’re cautiously optimistic that the new Longitudinal Family Physicians payment model is a positive first step towards primary care transformation, we also need to see investment in interprofessional team-based care and strategies to address family physician burn out.
Specifically, we’re asking government to work with family physicians to reduce the time spent in non-clinical work, so they can create more accessible care and spend more of their day providing direct patient care.
