GHCS provides important, factual information
By Bruce Mason, Gabriola Sounder
Monday, May 5 2008
The Gabriola Health Care Society (GHCS) reports that the advertisement for a new family physician for Gabriola has been posted on both the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) and Health Match BC websites.
This position comes with an incentive provided by the Province through The Family Physician for BC program and includes up to $100,000 for student loan relief, clinic overhead, etc.
These funds have already been committed to Gabriola by the provincial government.
The upcoming public meeting - date to be announced - which will be facilitated by the Ministry of Health (MOH) is intended to provide an opportunity for input into the future plans for the development of an integrated primary care centre for Gabriola.
It will involve all of the VIHA services, Gabriola physicians and other healthcare professions.
Both the MOH and VIHA are committed to this future development and support for the interim clinic is ensured until such time as a permanent facility is acquired.
While the recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has not yet been published by the Ministry of Health the GHCS wants to make it clear that compulsory patient registration is most definitely not part of the proposal.
Patients will be free to choose their own physician.
As well, all Gabriolans are members of the GHCS - for which there are no fees or additional taxes paid - unless they specifically request that they not be members.
Through the incredibly generous support of Gabriolans the GHCS has set up the emergency treatment room at the Community Clinic. This facility is available to residents and visitors to Gabriola whether they have a physician on the island or not.
It is available for providing emergency treatment by any physician on the island who joins the on-call group. Being on-call is a requirement for the family physician position that is currently being advertised.
Finally, the GHCS Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday, May 29th. During the meeting an election of directors will be held and final reports on the society’s finances and activities for the year will be made public.
The 2008 GHCS AGM is separate and distinct from the MOH meeting. The Sounder will publish information on both as it becomes available.
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