The Colwood Clinic 乌鸦传媒� developed and owned by the Victoria suburb of Colwood 乌鸦传媒� is a first-of-its-kind health-care model that brings in doctors as city employees.
Subject of national ttention, when first announced, it乌鸦传媒檚 a move designed to offer doctors better work-life balance, attract more physicians to the community, and give residents access to the health care they desperately need.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e not expecting them to work more than 40 hours a week,乌鸦传媒� said Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi.
乌鸦传媒淭hey spend their eight hours a day doctoring and not doing overhead administrative functions. That乌鸦传媒檚 what the attraction is.乌鸦传媒�
So far, things at the new clinic are going well 乌鸦传媒� despite growing pains, including an overwhelming amount of interest from doctors.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e had over 100 doctors give us an expression of interest. That乌鸦传媒檚 a lesson learned, we just didn乌鸦传媒檛 have the capacity to follow up on all of them at one time.乌鸦传媒�
Colwood is determined not to pull doctors from neighbouring municipalities.
The recruitment strategy has largely focused outside of Canada, with preliminary job offers extended to two physicians who Kobayashi hopes will arrive by November.
Presently, the clinic has just one doctor on staff: Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan, who relocated from London, Ont. to help pioneer the model.
乌鸦传媒淲e are so excited to be here in this community. I feel we乌鸦传媒檝e received such a warm welcome. It乌鸦传媒檚 made all the little bumps along the way totally worth it,乌鸦传媒� said Stiller-Moldovan, who has faced her share of challenges.
乌鸦传媒淎nytime somebody starts a new business from the ground up, you're always going to encounter difficulties. Coming in, you see things like not having trash cans and you乌鸦传媒檙e like, 乌鸦传媒極K, so what can we use as a trash can instead?乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕
Aside from finding new ways to deal with garbage, working with patients who haven乌鸦传媒檛 had access to a doctor in years has been a unique challenge.
乌鸦传媒淭he thing I've come to realize is, wow 乌鸦传媒� there are a lot of things we could have been helping with, and people have kind of been unnecessarily suffering,乌鸦传媒� she said.
So far, the response from patients 乌鸦传媒� there are 500 currently on her roster, which she aims to grow to 1,250 乌鸦传媒� has been warm. And while Stiller-Moldovan is the only physician working at the clinic for now, she乌鸦传媒檚 never lonely. She乌鸦传媒檚 built a network with co-workers and neighbours at the pharmacy next door.
乌鸦传媒淔rom a medical perspective, yes, I乌鸦传媒檓 really looking forward to having more physicians here. But it乌鸦传媒檚 been kind of neat being on the ground level and actually helping create policy,乌鸦传媒� she said.
Stiller-Moldovan said patients have been very excited about the clinic and recognize what a unique institution it is, but what they may not realize is how beneficial it is for doctors and staff as well.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 not sure they understood what doctors didn't have before. I think it乌鸦传媒檚 an eye-opener for a lot of people who say, 乌鸦传媒楽orry, you didn't have maternity leave? You didn乌鸦传媒檛 have sick leave?乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 said Stiller-Moldovan, explaining that many doctors work while battling illnesses of their own, because at the end of the day, they乌鸦传媒檙e not just physicians 乌鸦传媒� they乌鸦传媒檙e also small business owners.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been really relieving. I乌鸦传媒檓 not going home and making sure this much of my paycheque is going into taxes or retirement.乌鸦传媒�
Since arriving in B.C., Stiller-Moldovan has been enjoying the outdoors and the view of the Olympic Mountains on her morning commute. But there have also been some surprises.
乌鸦传媒淚 didn乌鸦传媒檛 realize there were earthquakes here 乌鸦传媒� and within a short period of time, I think there were like four earthquakes,乌鸦传媒� she says with a laugh.
The clinic model has proven so attractive that other municipalities are already taking notes. Representatives from several local governments have begun visiting Colwood to learn more.
But not everyone is on board.
乌鸦传媒淭here are lots of rumours out there. People say, 乌鸦传媒業乌鸦传媒檝e heard a rumour they乌鸦传媒檙e in financial trouble.乌鸦传媒� But no, we乌鸦传媒檙e not,乌鸦传媒� said Kobayashi. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e working towards our business plan 乌鸦传媒� right now, we乌鸦传媒檙e right on track.乌鸦传媒�
Between general push-back and the slow process of opening a clinic, Kobayashi said it can feel like some don乌鸦传媒檛 want the project to succeed.
乌鸦传媒淲e didn乌鸦传媒檛 think everyone would just embrace this and think it乌鸦传媒檚 a great thing. Within the health-care side 乌鸦传媒� whether it be the province or Island Health or whatever 乌鸦传媒� it is change. It means change.乌鸦传媒�
The goal is to bring in eight doctors over two years and provide new access to health care for Colwood residents. With two more physicians nearing deals to join the clinic this year, Kobayashi said things are on track.
乌鸦传媒淭he great thing about us doing this right now is that we乌鸦传媒檝e learned the pains 乌鸦传媒� believe me,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淗ave we resolved most of them? Yes, absolutely. Are we getting better? Yes, we are.乌鸦传媒�
