Virtual Care in Remote First Nations Clinics
The Strengthening Primary Care program brought together 20 teams of primary care providers, organizations and communities from northern, rural and remote communities across Canada to improve access to primary care.
- Topics
- Primary and community care
- First Nations, Inuit and Métis priorities
- Cultural Safety
- Audience
Healthcare leader
Community organization
Point of care provider
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With support from the program, the teams introduced promising practices — approaches that improved access to safe, including culturally safe, team-based primary care — by meeting the unique needs of communities, patients and providers while encouraging collaboration and shared learning across Canada. One of the 20 teams (Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services) advanced five unique promising practices to respond to the needs of people and providers throughout their province.
About this Promising Practice
Rural First Nations communities in North Vancouver Island, British Columbia, experience long wait times to access team-based primary care. This leads to an increased reliance on emergency departments (EDs) as the primary access point for healthcare.
Integrate a virtual care visit platform (BC Virtual Visit) within two primary care centres, to enable:
Patients to obtain appointments to see members of a team of primary care providers virtually the same-day as requested, or the next-day. This is made possible by reserving 2-hours of appointments for same-day/next-day appointments across 6 providers (or half-day a week per family physician).
Providers to provide in-person care using virtual technologies to better meet patient needs, for example, a virtual real-time interpreter service.
Program: Strengthening Access to Primary Care in Northern, Rural and Remote Communities
Location: North Vancouver Island, British Columbia