Campus residents can now access an innovative clinic at UBC that has been set up to provide primary healthcare for patients without a family doctor.
The Team-Based Care Teaching Clinic is located at UBC’s MacIsaac Health Building, which was formerly known as the Gateway Health Building.
The clinic is described by UBC officials as a first-of-its-kind in the province, and brings together licensed health professionals and students from nine health disciplines who will have the opportunity to learn alongside them.
The clinic, located at 5955 University Boulevard, is now accepting patients and is expected to provide primary care for up to 4,450 people.
Patients must live within a catchment area on the west side of Vancouver that includes UBC campus and the university neighbourhoods, have active B.C. Medical Services Plan (MSP) coverage, and be interested in receiving care at a team-based teaching clinic.
“The Team-Based Care Teaching Clinic is a learning and research environment where health professional students receive hands-on clinical education while delivering continuous, high-quality primary care,” said Dr. Julie Tipping, the clinic’s program director and an assistant professor of teaching in the MacIsaac School of Nursing.
Tipping said the clinic is designed to provide long-term, comprehensive, and continuous primary care, offering a longterm option for interested patients.
“Patients are attached to the clinic and receive ongoing care from an interprofessional team that includes family physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, social workers, dietitians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and clinical exercise physiologists,” she said. “Our goal is to build lasting relationships with patients while providing coordinated, team-based care that meets their changing healthcare needs.”
Residents interested in joining the clinic must first register with the provincial Health Connect Registry. Once registered, they can contact the clinic with their Personal Health Number (PHN) at 604-822-2826 to begin the intake process. Full details are available at gateway clinic.ubc.ca/patients.
The clinic is not a walk-in facility, and appointments are only available to patients who have completed the registration process.
UBC officials said the clinic’s opening was made possible after receiving a $40 million donation from UBC alumni Matthew and Natalie MacIsaac. The donation is described as the largest ever made to a school of nursing in Canadian history.
“We are deeply grateful to the MacIsaac family for their visionary, transformational gift to UBC and to the future of healthcare in B.C.,” said UBC President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Benoit-Antoine Bacon.
The clinic is part of a recent expansion of healthcare services on campus for both students and long-term residents.
The UBC Urgent and Primary Care Centre (UPCC) at 6165 Agronomy Road opened in March this year, providing students and community members with improved access to urgent and primary healthcare. Its hours of operation are from 8 a.m to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, including statutory holidays.
The opening of the UPCC is intended to ease pressure on the emergency department at UBC Hospital, which remains open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for patients requiring life-threatening medical attention due to illness, injury, or overdose.
Dedicated healthcare for UBC students is also available at a separate clinic on Level 3 of the MacIsaac Building, and includes doctors, sports medicine, and mental health counsellors.
EMMANUEL SAMOGLOU IS THE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE CAMPUS RESIDENT.