The mayor of Surrey, B.C., says residents are waiting too long for health care, so the city has begun the process of opening two municipally supported medical clinics.
Brenda Locke says the shortage of family doctors has hit Surrey especially hard and it is moving to provide solutions to open the clinics by 2026.
The city says in a statement that its staff will begin talking with B.C.-based Total Life Care Granville Medical to develop and operate the clinics.
The negotiations are to determine where the clinics should be developed and the recruitment and retention of health care professionals.
The statement says the plan is to have each clinic housing up to 10 health care service providers in addition to administrative and support staff.
Surrey Coun. Linda Annis, who is running against Locke in the next municipal election, says in a statement that the move makes little sense as the clinics would compete with existing provincial health providers.
“Health care is a provincial responsibility, not the responsibility of city hall," Annis says in the statement.
"This means Surrey taxpayers will pay twice for health care through both the provincial Health Ministry and now the city too."
Locke says that the clinics are needed, given the local situation in Surrey.
"We’re moving quickly to provide real solutions for our community," Locke says. "By working with TLC to open new clinics, we’re bringing care closer to home and giving residents the health care options they deserve.”
No cost estimates have been announced.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
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