The Kamloops Urgent Primary Care and Learning Centre (UPCLC) will provide people in Kamloops and throughout the region with a new option for timely primary care when it opens, announced Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, last week.
The new facility, which was completed earlier this spring, is located at 311 Columbia Street, on the street-front of Royal Inland Hospital’s Clinical Services building.
Patients will be able to see a range of health care providers depending on their needs, as the UPCLC will be staffed by a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals and staff, ranging from family doctors and physiotherapists to nurses. The centre will also be integrated into a local network of health care providers, services, and programs, making it easier for people to receive follow-up care and access to other services they may need.
The centre will begin by opening in the evenings, seven days a week, later this month. After it is fully operational in the fall of 2018, it will be open every day from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. year-round, with rolling 24-hour appointment booking. Referrals will be accepted from physicians, nurse practitioners, and other community clinicians, plus patients can self-refer.
The UPCLC is expected to relieve pressure on the emergency department at Royal Inland Hospital, providing medical attention and services to people who go to emergency with non-emergency health issues but who still need urgent attention.
In the fall, the centre will also open its Family Practice Learning Centre, which will have resident doctors working under the supervision of experienced physicians.
“The Urgent Primary Care and Learning Centre gives people in the Kamloops area another alternative for accessing the care they need,” said Ken Christian, chair of the Thompson Regional Hospital District. “The TRHD is pleased to support this new centre, and we look forward to seeing how it will help residents in Kamloops and the surrounding region.”
The capital cost of the project was $3.4 million, with $1.36 million coming from the TRHD. The Kamloops UPCLC is one of 10 urgent primary-care centres that are planned for British Columbia, and the first to open. All of the centres will be open in the next 12 months.
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