New urgent and primary care centre announced for Nanaimo

Dix said the new centre will be roughly twice the size of the current UPCC at the Port Place Mall. Photo: Lauryn Mackenzie /CHLY 101.7fm

A new urgent and primary care centre is coming to Nanaimo in 2025.

The Health Minister, Adrian Dix announced on July 17 what will be Nanaimo’s second urgent and primary care centre–or UPCC–outside of its future location at 3260 Norwell Drive behind Country Club Centre. 

The new UPCC will have an expanded team-based model with family physicians, nurse practitioners and interdisciplinary members such as mental health clinicians, social workers and an Indigenous nurse liaison.

Dix said that the new UPCC will benefit those in the region and allow people to get care closer to home.

“The new UPCC will offer continuity of care and preventative care for patients who do not have a primary care provider and for those who require a period of follow-up support after leaving the hospital,” he said.

He said the new centre is expected to support more than 50,000 patient visits annually. Between April 2023 and March 2024, the Medical Arts Urgent and Primary Care Centre in downtown Nanaimo saw 21,000 patient visits.

When asked by CHLY why the location was chosen, he said it was to space out the centre from the downtown one to provide more public access throughout the community. He also added choosing a spot with an already existing building will allow the space to open quicker.

Dix said the new centre will be roughly twice the size of the current UPCC at the Port Place Mall. It will also be open seven days a week and provide same-day care for health concerns that do not require an emergency department. As well the centre will also attach people to a nurse practitioner or family physician through the provincial attachment system.

The provincial attachment system was announced in July 2023 and streamlines the process through services like the Health Connect Registry, connecting patients who do not have a primary care provider with a family physician or nurse practitioner taking on new patients. 

Dix said while the new UPCC is under construction, the province has opened a temporary clinic in the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to provide follow-up care to those discharged from the hospital. This temporary clinic opened on June 12 of this year.

He said the temporary clinic currently provides follow-up care on certain weekday evenings and offers virtual care on Mondays, but will gradually expand hours as more nurse practitioners and physicians are recruited.

“It will reduce the strain on the hospital with fewer people needing emergency care for minor concerns. Patients who do not have a primary care device provider will be referred to the clinic for follow-up care after being discharged,” Dix said. “This means patient care is better coordinated and more effective once people leave the hospital.”

Dix said this second UPCC is an important step as the population of Nanaimo continues to grow.

“It's growing fast, and we will continue to have to do more,” Dix said. “We have to do more to ensure that we attract the healthcare professionals we need and that means extraordinary facilities like the one we're building behind us.”

Island Health board member Diane Brennan, said at the press conference that the future UPCC will build on the temporary outpatient clinic that was established at the NRGH back in June.

“When the building behind me is ready to receive the new UPCC the hard-working staff and medical staff who are providing that much-needed primary care at the NRGH temporary clinic will transition to the new UPCC and that team will grow even further,” Brennan said.

She said the second centre will offer wraparound care for Nanaimo residents supporting their primary care needs.

“From prevention of illness, to diagnosis, to treatment, all from a dedicated team of healthcare professionals who work together to seamlessly connect their patient's care needs, and provide timely access to integrated, comprehensive, culturally safe and trauma-informed primary care that is really significant,” Brennan said.

The new UPCC is expected to open in spring 2025.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.