Island Health ramps up services at Nanaimo urgent & primary care clinic

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Shelley Birchard during a tour of the Central Nanaimo UPCC prior to its May 1 2025 opening. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Doctors were touring the facility recently, Birchard noted.

Family physicians would add to an existing multi-disciplinary team on the clinic’s main floor, which Birchard said involves doctors, registered nurses, social workers, mental health and substance use professionals and medical office assistants.

In addition to actively pursuing family physicians for unattached patients, Birchard said two peer support worker roles should be filled “quite soon” to expand the important navigational work UPCC staff do.

Birchard said the Central Nanaimo UPCC strive to help break down the barriers of the healthcare and broader social support system which can be confusing to comprehend.

“With somebody that’s not feeling great, it just can increase that level of despair that the person is feeling; we certainly take the time, as we can, to unpack that with people.”

Island Health expects to serve 37,000 patients at Central Nanaimo UPCC in its second year of operation, which is envisioned to be fully built out in year three to 37 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff, up from the existing 22 FTE’s, Birchard said.

Positive spinoff effects on other primary care centres has likely been heavily influenced by the Central Nanaimo UPCC.

According to Island Health, between May 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025, both Nanaimo Regional General Hospital emergency department (2,600 fewer patients) and Oceanside Health Centre (4,000 fewer patients) saw reductions while the Central Nanaimo UPCC was open compared to the prior year.

“[We’re] able to bring patients our way that are needing that urgent access to primary care versus them waiting to be triaged and they might be sitting there for six or eight hours,” Birchard said.

Having a phone booking appointment system as opposed to first come, first serve walk-ins has worked well and there are no plans to reverse course, Birchard said.

“We’re able to really understand the whole picture and book people into those appointments that are really showing that requirement of urgent access to primary care, whereas in the walk-up system there was nothing.”

The Central Nanaimo UPCC operates seven days a week between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Appointments can be booked by phoning: 1-833-688-8722.

More information on the clinic is available here.

While privately operated, Island Health works in partnership with the Medical Arts Centre Urgent Care at Port Place Shopping Centre.

Island Health states the Medical Arts Urgent Care is projected to serve 25,000 patients this year.

The Central Nanaimo UPCC is not a publicly accessible facility. Clients need to phone in advance to book an appointment.

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