The Mayor of Calwood calls a model used to bring family doctors to the community a “no-brainer”. Doug Kobayashi says that a few years ago, the small city near Victoria had zero family doctors.To try and address the problem, they looked at a model where Colwood would run its own clinic. Doctors would work as municipal employees on salary with the pension plan and benefits and wouldn’t have to worry about the overhead of running a business.
Kobayashi says the province ultimately covers the cost, and the clinic has been operating since February of this year. They now have two doctors, with more reportedly on the way. Mayor Kobayashi spoke with People First Radio about the model.
The initiative is viewed as a pilot project, set to hit the one year mark in February.
“We already know from a financial point of view, this is a workable model. it’s a no-brainer,” he said. “The pilot side of it is probably to see the financial viability more than anything else.”
Kobayashi says there’s a need for multiple different models of clinic to attract doctors to communities.
“ if you’re looking to diversify your doctors and, you’re having problems retaining doctors, have a look at this model,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean you have to do it citywide. You may have one or two of these type of clinics…and the rest of them could be the traditional clinics, right? Fee for service type clinics. You can have this. We’re showing that it works.”
Listen to the full interview above.
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