The below is intended for medical staff on behalf of Dr. Ben Williams, Vice President, Medicine, Quality and Chief Medical Officer
February 13, 2024
Colleagues,
As the Associate Physician and Physician Assistant programs at Island Health continue to unfold, we remain committed to keeping you up-to-date.
As most of you know, new provider roles such as Associate Physicians and Physician Assistants are being introduced as a component of British Columbia’s Health Human Resource Strategy to help address health care worker shortage.
To create sustainable program foundations for the Associate Physician and Physician Assistant roles at Island Health, medical staff input is needed to strategically place these limited resources. Advisory groups have been created to provide program oversight and input into decision making. Program updates and detail on the newly formed advisory groups are provided below.
Associate Physicians
The Associate Physician program continues to advance Island-wide with the following milestones:
- Island Health welcomed its first Associate Physician to the perinatal program at Victoria General Hospital on January 15.
- Eight additional Associate Physicians for the initial programs are expecting licensure from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC in the next month.
- An Associate Physician Advisory Committee (APAC) was formed in December to provide program consistency and to evaluate and approve Expressions of Interest submissions. APAC meets monthly and is comprised of Medical Directors, physician members representing South Island, Central Island and North Island communities, as well as MSA president representation.
- APAC has met twice and has approved two new Expressions of Interest since December (Nanaimo Regional General Hospital - Surgery and Internal Medicine).
Physician Assistants
The Physician Assistant program is well underway with key milestones planned for completion within the next two months:
- Saanich Peninsula Hospital is the prototype for the development of the Emergency Department Physician Assistant program for the province of B.C.
- The Ministry of Health has created a Physician Assistant Reference Group with membership from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, Health Employers Association of B.C. (HEABC) and Island Health to ensure that program development can be expanded provincially. Invitations have been extended to other B.C. health authorities to participate in this Reference Group.
- The Reference Group meets weekly to discuss program direction and includes Island Health Medical Directors, Medical Staff from Saanich Peninsula Hospital and an Executive Medical Director.
Thank you to all Advisory Group members for their participation and guidance as we embed these important roles within Island Health. I know that many of you are taking these advisory positions on in addition to your busy clinical schedules but your input it vital to inform program development. I would also like to extend a thanks to the on-site teams for your engagement on how to best integrate these roles during the pilot stage.
If you have any question relating to the Associate Physician or Physician Assistant programs, please contact: medstaffprograms@islandhelath.ca
Sincerely,
Dr. Ben Williams