Kamloops Councillor pitches municipal medical clinic in bid to attract more doctors

Hall said he envisions Kamloops adopting the “innovative and creative” model that the City of Colwood on Vancouver Island did when it launched what it says is Canada’s first municipally run health-care clinic.

“Both [doctors in Colwood] came from out of province so there is an opportunity to not only get doctors from out of province but from our neighbours to the south of us,” Hall said, when asked where Kamloops will be looking to recruit doctors from.

“You’re looking at another opportunity to recruit doctors to the city of Kamloops.”

Unlike doctors recruited by STEPS or the RIH Foundation, Hall said the doctors recruited to the clinic he is proposing – assuming it goes ahead – will be municipal employees, similar to what is being done at the Colwood clinic.

“They would be eligible to be paid by and eligible to gain benefits from the municipality including contributing to a pension,” Hall said. “Those are very positive attractants when you’re looking at the new types of doctors that are coming out of universities.”

“The fact is Colwood opened their clinic in February and the idea was they were going to have two doctors in the first year to a maximum of eight within five years. They had over 113 doctors apply for those two positions.”

Hall attributed that demand to a changing workforce where many newcomers to the medical profession want a better work-life balance where they can focus more of their time on being a doctor instead of administrative work to run their practices.

“A lot of those individuals are looking for a moderation of lifestyle where they can enjoy providing a service to the community but also getting out and doing some recreation with their families,” he added.

“The other thing I hope we do is a promotional video selling Kamloops and the lifestyle that comes with living here so that doctors that aren’t familiar with the beauty that Kamloops has in the interior of B.C. can be sold on the community.”

New funding model makes clinic a possibility: Hall

Hall also believes taxpayers won’t have to pay the salaries of these new doctors, noting the City is able to bill the Province through the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) payment model which was launched in 2023. That model, Hall said, also allows the City to bill the Province for the work done by medical office assistants.

“That [LFP model] allows us the opportunity to provide the service to the community and bill the province so that there is zero taxation,” Hall said. “That is essentially what we’re looking forward to.”

If plans for the municipal clinic go ahead, Hall envisions hiring between 15 and 20 doctors to fully staff the facility. A timeline and other specific details – including proposed locations – remain unclear at this time.

“If my colleagues support this, which I hope they do, it will be given to staff to develop a business case,” Hall said, noting he’ll work “closely” with staff on development that business case.

“We’re intrigued and we’re offered support from the city of Colwood and Mayor Doug Kobayashi who is allowing us to review his business case as well as retired CAO has offered assistance as well.”

Hall also said his notice of motion has the support of senior City of Kamloops staff, citing a presentation he made to directors and CAO Byron McCorkell prior to the April 15 council meeting.

“The feedback I got from staff as well as discussing it with my colleagues has been very supportive,” Hall said. “I’m looking forward to seeing if we can pass this notice of motion and begin working on a business case.”

by Victor Kaisar

Kamloops Councillor pitches municipal medical clinic in bid to attract more doctors

New funding model makes clinic a possibility: Hall

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