If you're still desperately seeking a family doctor, these numbers may sound optimistic.
Doctors of BC says there are now 5,364 family physicians in the province, up 1,001 from the 4,363 there were in 2023.
Breaking the 1,000 new family doctors barrier prompted the group (formerly the BC Medical Association) to issue a news release touting the success and Doctors in BC president Dr. Charlene Lui to go on a bit of a speaking jag.
NowMedia spoke with Lui to find out more.
"Yes, there are 1,001 net new family physicians in BC," she said.
"They are doctors that were in other areas of medicine in BC that moved into family practice and new grads who have become family doctors and new recruits from other provinces, the US and the UK coming to BC to go into family practice."
Doctors of BC represents 16,000 physicians, medical residents and medical students in the province.
The higher number of 5,364 family doctors accounts for a little more than one-third of the group's membership.
Just a couple of years ago, it was estimated that close to a million British Columbians didn't have a family doctor.
Those were people that would have to go to a walk-in clinic, urgent-care clinic or hospital emergency room if they needed medical advice or treatment.
Or, worse yet, some British Columbians would simply forgo seeing a doctor or getting preventative or medical treatment because they didn't have a doctor.
It was called a crisis and there was much angst and hand-wringing over why a first-world jurisdiction had a shortage of healthcare providers and long wait times for appointments and treatment.
It's a crisis being felt around the globe with no quick or easy solution.
The 1,001 new family doctors in BC are said to be connecting nearly 250,000 patients with their own family physician.
That's taken the number of British Columbians without a family doctor down to 700,000, which is still an overwhelming number.
Part of the success of adding 1,001 new family doctors is the new Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Model that is said to have transformed family medicine in BC.
The new method of payment allows family doctors to make more money.
In the past, family doctors were paid a fee-for-service by the province for each office (or phone) visit with a patient.
Family doctors weren't paid for administration tasks, creating and updating medical charts, referral letters or coordinating care for patients with other parts of the medical system.
The new payment model now pays doctors for that extra work and time.
By the way, a 'longitudinal' family physician is essentially a family doctor who has a longer-term relationship with their patients, providing more personalized and consistent care and building trust.
"The new payment model has made a noticeable difference," said Lui.
"250,000 new people are now attached to a family doctor. The Health Connect Registry has also helped."
The registry at https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/find-care/health-connect-registry matches patients seeking a family doctor with a family physician in their community when one becomes available.
Lui admitted there's still lots of work to do.
"We continue to see challenges, especially in rural and remote areas of the Interior and the North," she said.
"But, there are a lot of reasons for family doctors to live and work in BC, including our quality of life and the new payment model."
Also this week, the province announced it is using the mayhem created in the US by President Donald Trump to recruit doctors and nurses from America to BC.
"With the uncertainty and chaos happening south of the border, we have an unprecedented opportunity to attract skilled healthcare workers interested in moving to Canada," said BC Minister of Health Josie Osborne.
"We will welcome you to our beautiful province where together we can strengthen public health care, deliver services for people and build healthy communities."
Key to the recruitment is fast-tracking credential recognition so American doctors and nurses can work in BC right away.
BC's marketing campaign will focus on recruiting doctors from Washington state, Oregon and California in collaboration with health authorities, regulatory colleges and other provinces.
The campaign will also try to recruit for areas most in need, such as cancer care, emergency departments and rural communities.
BC faces challenges in recruiting doctors and nurses from the US, primarily that they may not get paid as much, especially considering that the Canadian dollar is worth 40% less than the American buck.
BC ran a similar campaign in the UK and Ireland last year.
The province didn't provide numbers of doctors and nurses recruited by that campaign, but did say it built on progress BC has made in recent years to strengthen primary care by connecting more people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Thumbnail photos from Online Marketing on Unsplash and Interior Health
