CANADA, October 29 - A majority of family physicians in British Columbia are receiving interim funding to support family doctors with overhead costs as part of a multi-phased approach to help protect and support B.C.'s health-care system.

In August 2022, the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC announced $118 million in interim funding for family doctors.

“When we announced these stabilization measures, we identified approximately 3,480 family doctors who have their own practices and 1,100 family doctors working in walk-in clinics,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “I am pleased to share that the first 3,164 family doctors across B.C. will receive an initial distribution of funds worth $107 million in stabilization payments to help ensure patients maintain continued access to primary care services.”

These payments cover the majority of eligible physicians and clinics in B.C. The Province will disperse the remaining $11 million mid-November for the remaining eligible physicians and clinics.

This funding has been made available to family doctors who provide ongoing patient services and pay overhead costs, as well as primary care clinics, including walk-in clinics, that commit to remaining open and maintaining consistent clinic hours while the new physician master agreement is negotiated.

This initiative is part of B.C.’s Health Human Resources Strategy. The strategy, announced on Sept. 29, 2022, puts people first by ensuring they get the health services they need and are cared for by a healthy workforce. It focuses on 70 key actions to recruit, train and retain health-care workers, while redesigning the health-care system to foster workplace satisfaction and innovation.