Home Business & Economy Health Care Sector Colwood health-care clinic hires first family doctor

Colwood health-care clinic hires first family doctor

Eight doctors needed, seven more to go.

colwood health clinic
Colwood medical clinic in the new fast-growing Royal Bay area of Colwood. [City of Colwood]
CANADA-USA NEWS & ANALYSIS

Saturday December 28, 2024 | COLWOOD, BC

by Mary P Brooke, B.Sc. | Island Social Trends


It was an early Christmas present for Colwood!

On December 18, the City of Colwood announced that the municipality is welcoming their first family physician to the Colwood Clinic.

The city’s news release was headed up “The City of Colwood has hired its first family doctor” even though health-care services are a provincial responsibility.

Indeed, the news release continues: “It’s part of Colwood’s first-in-Canada municipal health care model where the City is hiring doctors with the goal of connecting every resident with a family physician.”

city of colwood, council, mayor and councillors
City of Colwood council (from left): Misty Olsen, Kim Jordison, Ian Ward, Mayor Doug Kobayashi, Cynthia Day, David Grove, Dean Jantzen. [City of Colwood – 2022]

Well-being is one of the City’s six strategic pathways: Economy, Infrastructure, Engagement, Well-being, Governance and Environment.

city of colwood, strategic pathways, 2024-2027
City of Colwood strategic pathways, as shown in the city’s strategic plan for 2024-2027. [City of Colwood]

Role of local government:

“Local governments are uniquely positioned to positively impact the well-being of residents through community planning, recreation, and active living,” said Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi in the release.

“Ensuring residents have a family doctor is a logical next step,” says Kobayashi who was elected mayor of the Greater Victoria west shore municipality just two years ago.

monk office commercial accounts

Welcoming their first doctor:

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Stiller-Moldovan to the Colwood Clinic,” said Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi.

“Her passion for recreation is the perfect fit for Colwood where we are known for our mild climate and connections to nature that support a healthy and active seaside lifestyle,” said Kobayashi in today’s news release.

Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan is a family and sport medicine physician who will be relocating to Colwood from London, Ontario.

dr stiller-moldovan, mayor doug kobayshi
Dr. Stiller-Moldovan (centre) and her partner Steve joined Colwood Mayor Kobayashi (centre-left) and members of the Colwood Clinic team at Table Nineteen at Olympic View Golf Course in Colwood in December 2024. [City of Colwood]

The Colwood Clinic:

The Colwood Clinic is set to open in 2025 in the seaside neighbourhood of Royal Bay in Colwood. The initiative comes in response to community demand, where 69 per cent of Colwood residents indicated having a family doctor was their highest priority in the 2023 Life in Colwood Survey.

The City is currently recruiting to create a team of eight family physicians. The model was developed with input from Dr. Jesse Pewarchuk, medical director and co-founder of Aroga Lifestyle Medicine (owned by the Pattison Group), whose wife works as a family doctor.

colwood health clinic
Colwood medical clinic in the new fast-growing Royal Bay area of Colwood. [City of Colwood]

The physicians, along with a medical clinic office manager and up to four medical office assistants, will be paid as municipal employees, funded by Provincial revenues billed by the clinic through the Ministry of Health in the same way that physicians in other clinics bill for their time and office assistants.

“It’s an innovative payment model made possible thanks to the BC Ministry of Health’s forward-thinking Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Program,” says the City in their news release.

It’s an appealing offer for doctors, who will be part of a supportive team with a focus on well-being rather than on the business of running a clinic. And they’ll receive paid vacation and maternity/paternity leave, full medical benefits, and a defined pension from the Municipal Pension Plan.

royal roads university, new west shore campus

“Younger doctors are looking for something different,” said Kobayashi as the clinic developed. “The old model of where a doctor would open a practice, stay in that practice for 20 to 30 years and then sell the practice — and that was their retirement fund — that isn’t working anymore.”

After seeing many long-time doctors retiring and closing their family practices, the BC Government has recognized that reality and began revising their payment model with the Doctors of BC in 2022, with the new Longitudinal Family Physician Payment Schedule coming into full effect in September 2024.

Dix, doctors of bc
BC Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president of Doctors of BC, announce short-term deal for family doctors, in a press conference from Vancouver on Aug 24, 2022. [Livestream]

Colwood residents may add their name to BC Health Connect Registry:

The first step for residents will be to add their name to the Health Connect Registry provided by British Columbia’s Health Link BC program.

From there, residents who have a Colwood postal code will be matched with a family doctor at the Colwood Clinic.

bc health connect registry
How to register with the BC Health Connect Registry.

Recently the new BC Health Minister has promised that every person who is presently on the Health Connect Registry list will be matched with a doctor or nurse practitioner within the next year.

The success of that promise is yet to be seen; many similar promises have been made in years past, going as far back as the BC Liberal government’s “GP for Me” promise in 2013, and the BC NDP’s then-Health Minister Adrian Dix’s promise of matching everyone when the registry was first launched about three years ago.

serious coffee view royal

More physicians welcome:

The City of Colwood invites more physicians to the team, to fulfill their vision of eight doctors working at the clinic. They seek physicians “who are focused on well-being and quality of life – for both your patients and yourself”.

Location is an attracting feature. “Come for the exceptional seaside lifestyle and full municipal benefit package including paid vacation and maternity leave, 100% medical coverage and a defined pension,” the City states.

Family physicians are encouraged to email the Colwood Clinic Medical Director Dr Jesse Pewarchuk to learn more.

langford, traffic, ad

About Dr Stiller-Moldovan:

When it comes to health care delivery, Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan takes a holistic approach, ensuring patient goals are at the forefront of developing treatment plans. She is skilled at working with populations of all ages and athletic abilities, from those who enjoy walking to elite athletes, and everything in between.

colwood physician, dr stiller-moldovan
Dr Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan [supplied]

Dr. Stiller-Moldovan received an Honours BSc in biochemistry and a Masters in Human Kinetics before graduating from medical school with second class honours at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. She trained in family medicine at Western University before completing the Sport and Exercise Medicine fellowship at the Fowler Kennedy Sport Medicine Clinic.

Outside of medicine, Dr. Stiller-Moldovan is a trained yoga instructor and has a love for equestrian sport, swimming, hiking, skiing, and being in the outdoors.

ist main, drive bc
Visit IslandSocialTrends.ca for local, regional and national news insights.

===== CITY OF COLWOOD LINKS:

click here to subscribe
Keen insights about BC political, economic and social news trends. Premium Subscribers get breaking news (text/email) & a PDF of the print version.

===== RELATED:

NEWS SECTIONS: COLWOOD | VANCOUVER ISLAND | POLITICS | HEALTH | ISLAND HEALTH | EDITORIALS