CCPA worries partnership between VCH, for-profit provider will impact treatment at urgent care centres

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There are concerns about what will happen to the quality of patient care at Vancouver’s urgent care centres as Vancouver Coastal Health teams up with a for-profit group.

It’s coming from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which is taking issue with the fact that the Seymour Medical Group will be operating one of the VCH centres on Hornby Street. Freedom of information documents released to the CCPA suggest VCH may have plans to do something similar at future locations.

“We want to use our health care dollars as wisely and efficiently as possible,” Alex Hemingway, who speaks for the CCPA, says. “We don’t want to use those to align the profit margins of large health care corporations or to pay for inefficient administrative duplication that we see in the private sector.”

While Hemingway notes the concerns the CCPA flags may not generally be things a patient might notice when they walk into an urgent care centre for treatment, he says research has shown time and again that the best way to provide care is through a not-for-profit model.

“It’s really from a governance and quality of care and efficiency perspective that we should be concerned about the ownership model, but may not be immediately obvious when you walk in the door because you’re going to get the care that you would expect,” he says.

For its part, VCH says in a statement that the centre in downtown Vancouver is a collaboration between a number of agencies, including the Ministry of Health, Providence Health Care and the Vancouver Division of Family Practice.

It also notes that the contract with the Seymour Medical Group is similar to contracts it holds with not-for-profit health service providers, and the same standard of care is required whether health authorities, not-for-profits or for-profits are operating an urgent care centre.

Read Vancouver Coastal Health’s full statement to NEWS 1130 below:

“The new City Centre Urgent Primary Care Centre (UPCC) in downtown Vancouver is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care and the Vancouver Division of Family Practice. The Vancouver Division of Family Practice is a not-for-profit society funded by the Government of British Columbia and Doctors of BC, and works in partnership with VCH and other community organizations.

“The Seymour Medical Group (SMG) will operate the City Centre UPCC through a service agreement with the partners. The Seymour Medical Group consists of Vancouver doctors who have been operating primary care clinics in Vancouver for 80 years.

“The City Centre UPCC aligns with the Provincial Government’s strategy for more primary care services across B.C., including plans for urgent primary care centres and its operating costs are consistent with standard funding models.

“Urgent primary care centres provide urgent, same-day non-life-threatening care to people who need medical attention and who would otherwise have no other option than to go to the emergency department. They also provide a broader range of services than those available at walk-in clinics, including diagnostic (X-Ray and Ultrasound), lab and pharmacy services.

“The contract with the Seymour Medical is similar to contracts we hold with not-for-profit health service providers. The same standard of care is required whether health authorities, not-for-profit or for profits are operating UPCCs.”