Quesnel, B.C. – The Quesnel Primary Care Clinic will open up in a temporary location starting February 1.

The temporary location will be at the Avery Health Clinic until the permanent location is ready near GR Baker Memorial Hospital in the spring.

According to Northern Health, there will be a transition period while the clinic becomes operation.

That timeline is as follows:

* January 2016 – Avery Health Clinic notifies patients of medical record transfer requirements.

* February 2016 – Initial set-up of clinical systems and practices. Physicians and nurse practitioners will provide appointments for current Avery Health Clinic patients during transition. The health care team will consult with patients who require regular follow up for complex health conditions to see if attachment opportunities are available. These may include oncology and maternity. Priority will be determined on a case by case basis based on their needs.

* Spring 2016 – Move to permanent location.

* Fall 2016 -Additional physicians arrive and additional patients are attached to the Quesnel Primary Care Clinic.
Back in November, Quesnel’s Health Service Administrator Debbie Strang told 250News the clinic is a new way of practicing team-based care for patients.

“There will be physicians in the clinic, nurse practitioners, an inter-professional team that works with the folks in the clinic and contains mental health clinicians, home and community care and primary care nurses.”

She also said a community wide recruiting effort has more than made up for the pending loss of four physicians.

“We’ve had some great success in recruiting physicians, some great interest in this new clinic as a way to practice,” said Strang, “Between September 2015 and August 2016 we have confirmed seven new physicians coming into the community.”