CANADA, December 11 - People living in Kamloops and surrounding communities will benefit from more access to team-based care with the opening of the new North Shore Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC).
“We are taking action throughout B.C. to strengthen primary care, so people have health-care services they can count on closer to home,” said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. “This includes opening 39 urgent and primary care centres to connect people to doctors and nurse practitioners, while also helping relieve pressure on hospitals and emergency rooms. By adding a second UPCC in Kamloops, people living in the entire region will have easier and more convenient access to high-quality, non-emergency health care.”
The UPCC is located at units 21-22 inside the Northills Centre at 700 Tranquille Rd. It will provide urgent primary care seven days a week, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., including statutory holidays, beginning Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. The UPCC will offer primary-care services for people who need support for their health concerns within 12 to 24 hours, but do not require an emergency department. Conditions such as sprains, cuts, high fevers and minor infections are appropriate for the UPCC.
The UPCC will be staffed by family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and administrative staff. When fully staffed, people will be cared for by approximately 30 full-time equivalent health-care practitioners.
“We are excited to welcome patients to the second urgent and primary-care clinic in Kamloops at Northills Centre, where it will be co-located with our laboratory and medical-imaging departments,” said Susan Brown, president and CEO, Interior Health. “This convenient, comprehensive access to care will help reduce the need to travel for different services for people living on the North Shore.”
The UPCC is available to people who do not have a primary-care provider, as well as those who are unable to schedule an appointment with their primary-care provider within a convenient timeframe. The UPCC will support people who are seeking a family physician or nurse practitioner to register with the Health Connect Registry through the Provincial Attachment System.
“There is a great need for additional health-care capacity in the Kamloops area and this urgent and primary care centre on the North Shore will benefit many people in the Thompson-Nicola region who are seeking care,” said Mike O’Reilly, chair, Thompson Regional Hospital District. “Our board welcomes this new facility, and we were pleased to contribute to capital costs.”
The Kamloops North Shore UPCC can be accessed by walking in during the opening hours or by calling the Kamloops UPCC central phone line at 250 314-2256. The phone line opens at 10 a.m. and people can call to book an appointment at the new North Shore UPCC or the Urgent Primary Care and Learning Centre (UPCLC) at 311 Columbia St.
“With the opening of the second urgent and primary care centre in Kamloops, more people will have access to urgent and primary care,” said Katherine Brown, executive director, Thompson Region Division of Family Practice. “The Thompson Region Division of Family Practice has worked with Interior Health to provide connections with providers to share information about the new facility and practice opportunities. The UPCC is a piece of the broader provincial primary-care strategy, which includes a variety of initiatives.”
The total capital cost of the new UPCC is $5.4 million, with the Ministry of Health contributing $3.4 million and the Thompson Regional Hospital District funding $2 million. The Ministry of Health has approved annual operating funding of $6.7 million.
This UPCC is part of B.C.’s primary health-care strategy, launched in 2018, that focuses on team-based care. There are 39 UPCCs open. Together, they have had approximately three million patient visits. Eleven more UPCCs are expected to be in operation by the end of 2025. Establishing UPCCs throughout the province puts patients and community back at the centre of health-care delivery.
Quick Facts:
- The Kamloops North Shore UPCC is the 10th UPCC operating in the Interior Health region, along with Kamloops’ first, Ashcroft, Castlegar, Cranbrook, Kelowna, Penticton, Rutland, Vernon and West Kelowna.
- The first UPCC in Kamloops opened in 2018 at 311 Columbia St.
- The Kamloops South Shore UPCC has approximately 36,000 visits per year.
- Interior Health UPCCs have had approximately 754,000 visits since 2018 when its first UPCC opened.
Learn More:
To learn more about UPCCs in the Interior Health region, visit:
https://www.interiorhealth.ca/information-for/patients-and-visitors/urgent-and-primary-care-centres
To read about B.C.’s primary-care strategy, visit:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/accessing-health-care/bcs-primary-care-system and
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2018PREM0034-001010
To learn more about how B.C. is connecting more people to family doctors and nurse practitioners, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024HLTH0043-001541
