B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix was in Vanderhoof on Monday to announce the province’s approval of a new integrated primary care and community health services centre.
The facility will bring physicians and nurse practitioners currently working at the Omineca Medical Centre together with Northern Health Authority’s interprofessional teams in a new facility to be built at St. John Hospital.
“A new integrated primary and community care facility means the people of Vanderhoof will have better access to high-quality team-based health care when they need it,” said Dix.
“Team-based care has become integral to the primary-care system in B.C. Building out a primary and community care system that focuses on improving access for patients across the province is a priority for our government.”
Construction of the project is expected to begin in the fall of 2024, with completion sometime in 2025. It will be located at the site of the College of New Caledonia hospital building, which will be demolished early next year.
The new building will offer care providers and patients more space and a better building layout with increased accessibility and more patient privacy.
“Northern Health is planning for the future of primary and community health care in the Vanderhoof area,” said Northern Health chair Colleen Nyce.
“This new facility brings together local primary-care providers and Northern Health community health services team members under one roof, ensuring patients have access to multiple and co-ordinated health-care services in one place, well into the future.”
