Surrey looking to create its own clinics to address shortage of family doctors

Surrey Memorial Hospital has one of the busiest emergency rooms in the country, and ER closures in neighbouring Delta have only exacerbated the issue.

This is something the City of Surrey is trying to address with a new initiative to create spaces for family doctors in city-owned buildings.

“We have less than half the number of family doctors as Vancouver,” said Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke.

“The pressure points on healthcare in Surrey are such that we really needed to do something.”

The idea is to remove the financial and logistical burdens of setting up a practice, offering family doctors ready-to-use clinics with most costs covered.

Locke says that with Simon Fraser University’s medical campus opening soon, there’s no time to spare.

“We want to make sure that those doctors that are getting their training and are ready to go out to train patients are going to stay right here in Surrey,” she said.

“We want to be the place where they are going to stay and practice, and so we are going to make it as easy for them to do just that.”

Locke says the goal is to get two clinics online by next summer, and then more in the years to come.

This is a model that the provincial medical association says could address a big need, with other municipalities likely to follow suit in the years to come.

“Family physicians, and all physicians, but especially family physicians, do have a lot of administrative work, and it takes time away from what family physicians want to do, which is taking care of patients,” said Dr. Charlene Lui, president of Doctors of BC.

“Unfortunately, there is a shortage of physicians, and so it is a bit of a competition [as to] which community the limited number of physicians we have will go to.”

But at a time when money is tight in the rapidly expanding city, critics say Locke is effectively allowing the province to download costs.

“It’s a very slippery slope,” said Coun. Linda Annis.

“This is a provincial responsibility, and my fear is that it’s going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money with absolutely no results.”

Locke wouldn’t share where the funding for this plan would come from, simply saying the 2026 budget will provide a clearer picture.