surrey mayor locke looks to expedite approvals of medical clinics in city-owned buildings
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outside of the total life care clinic on 41st avenue at knight street in vancouver. the company is slated to open two clinics in surrey this fall.
arlen redekop
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surrey mayor brenda locke wants to advance the city’s role in health care even more, as medical clinics gear up to open in city-owned buildings later this year.
locke entered the health-care arena — a provincial responsibility — late last year when she announced that the city of surrey would open 10 medical clinics to help more of its residents gain access to family doctors.
now, locke is looking to get the city to expedite permits for clinics so more can be opened faster. locke also wants to create a health advisory panel made up of professionals in the field to provide the municipality with advice.
“surrey continues to face serious health-care access challenges, including primary care, emergency care, mental health and addictions, seniors’ care, and culturally responsive services,” locke states in one of her notices of motion to be discussed at monday’s council meeting.
if locke’s motions are approved, city staff will be directed to move medical-care permits to the top of the pile for faster approval.
council previously considered appointing a health-care administrator, but the mayor said a broader panel of experts would be a stronger resource for the city.
“the city needs to continue to work in collaboration with health-care providers to establish additional medical and health-care facilities across the city as quickly and efficiently as possible,” locke states.
the city would also begin a search for members for the advisory panel, which the mayor would like to be made up of experts in areas such as primary care, mental health, addictions, public health, seniors’ care, indigenous health, patient advocacy and health-systems policy.
locke also wants to have non-voting representatives from fraser health and the health ministry on the panel, which would provide the city with non-binding advice on actions to take and partnership opportunities.
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the mayor has faced some criticism for her ventures into health care. opposition coun. linda annis has said that the mayor is letting the b.c. government off the hook from its health-care duties to surrey residents.
two medical clinics, which will be operated by total life care granville medical inc., are slated to open in surrey this fall. one will be at 10362 king george blvd. in central surrey and the other at 12757 76th ave. in newton. each clinic is expected to accommodate 10 physicians, the city said.
the city wants to open a total of 10 clinics on city-owned land or in city buildings.
the cost to surrey taxpayers would be about $100,000 per clinic each year.
“the city of surrey continues to experience significant population growth and increasing demand for primary services,” locke states.
under the agreement with total life, surrey would get five per cent of the net revenue earned at each clinic per year to help offset the cost to the city.
total life care already runs three clinics in surrey and seven clinics in other municipalities, including vancouver, burnaby, richmond, north vancouver and mission.
surrey has about 59 family physicians per 100,000 residents, which the city says is substantially lower than comparable metropolitan areas. vancouver has about 136 family physicians per 100,000 residents, according to a city of surrey report.
“family physicians play a critical role in the health of a community, serving as the first point of contact for care and providing the ongoing medical support necessary to maintain population health and reduce demand on emergency and hospital service,” locke states.
surrey memorial hospital has the busiest emergency room in canada, and closures of surrounding ers have sometimes resulted in patients being diverted elsewhere, making the city’s needs even greater, the mayor has said.
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