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It’s unclear if the government is handing money over to clinics directly or if they’re channelling money through health authorities. In a few cases initial setup costs were about $2 million and annual operating costs per year are said to be up to about $4 million.

“Hopefully, these clinics will achieve their stated goal of providing after-hours care to patients as well as ongoing care for patients who are unattached (without a family doctor),” Cadesky said.

There are pros and cons to the urgent-care model, he said. On the plus side, they have labs, pharmacies, other health-providers like nurses and imaging facilities. But Cadesky said the potential unintended consequence of such centres is that they could siphon doctors away from full-service, cradle-to-grave, primary care clinics.

“Some doctors may choose to start off with this kind of model. It’s seen as less stressful and less costly than running a business, but we still need doctors working in private practices across the province,” he said, referring to ever-increasing rents for medical clinics and staff costs.

Doctors of B.C. is presently engaged in talks with the government on a new contract and one of the priorities for doctors is more money to “sustain” the independent, medical-clinic model, Cadesky said: “With the high cost of living and sky-high rents, it’s becoming more and more difficult to operate medical practices and to recruit staff.”

Dr. Afshin Khazei, medical director of the recently opened Vancouver City Centre urgent-care clinic at 1290 Hornby St., said that 14 doctors are on staff, including family doctors and emergency room specialists, but some work only part-time. While the clinic expects to eventually see 36,000 patients a year, volume so far during the “soft opening” has been lower. Next month, however, renovations to the second and third floors will be complete. On those floors, patients can get connected to up to 40 family doctors with offices there.