Are Urgent Care Centres easing wait times at ERs?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As the province tries to rein in wait times at Emergency Rooms, British Columbians may not be making use of a new kind of service.

While lines build up at Vancouver General and St. Paul’s Hospital, the waiting room at the nearby Urgent Care Centre sits empty.

When NEWS 1130 checked in on a weekend and on a weekday, the Urgent Care Centre at the corner of Hornby and Drake in Vancouver was empty, although staff said it tends to pick up around 8 or 9 at night.

That centre, and one in Surrey, opened in November and are among five across the province, with a total of 20 expected to open over the next two years.

The Surrey Urgent Care Centre has had more than twice as many visitors as the one in Vancouver since opening.

Surrey has had 2,178 visits, while Vancouver has had only 835.

Urgent Care Centres deal with cases that require immediate attention, but aren’t life threatening.

Despite the empty chairs, Health Minister Adrian Dix says the clinics are doing well, but getting the word out is still important.

“Last weekend I received both kind of tweets, that it’s too full and it’s not full enough,” Dix told NEWS 1130. “We’re just getting started. The idea, I think, is excellent, the response has been really good, the numbers are growing both in Vancouver and in Surrey and in Westshore and in Kamloops. I expect them to continue to grow.”

Meanwhile, Victoria’s clinic is bustling, expecting to hit 5,000 visitors the week on Feb. 4.

At last count in mid-January, the five facilities had had 12,500 visits in total.

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