Kelowna family doctors to add nurses to practice teams

A new initiative should help support more patients’ health needs in the Okanagan.

Some Kelowna-region family doctors are welcoming nurses to their practice teams.

Kelowna MLAs Norm Letnick and Steve Thomson announced the new “nurse-in-practice” initiative on Friday.

"Through the nurse-in-practice initiative, family doctors will be able to draw on the expertise of the more than 55,000 nurses in B.C. to create a well-rounded team of health-care providers who are best positioned to treat a range of health-care needs,” explained Letnick. “I am eager to see how the initiative takes shape in Kelowna and beyond."

So far, six family doctors’ offices in Kelowna have expressed interest in bringing nurses into their practice.

These doctors are in the early stages of recruitment and nurses are expected to join their offices in the coming months.

"Nurses play a key role in our health-care team, said Kelowna family physician, Dr. Janet Evans. “I look forward to welcoming nurses into doctors' offices throughout the community, and I know that Kelowna residents will benefit from this new partnership."

The move is part of a comprehensive primary and community care strategy in Kelowna, which will also redesign services to better support people with mental health and substance use concerns.

A new Seniors Health and Wellness Centre, as well as targeted recruitment of family physicians, are part of the strategy as well.

"The way we deliver health care is changing,” said Premier Christy Clark. “Having nurses work alongside family physicians means more day-to-day help for doctors - and better care for their patients."

The nurse-in-practice initiative announcement comes just four days after Health Minister Terry Lake made a $90-million funding announcement to support the expansion of team-based primary care throughout the province.