Due to ongoing third party supply and construction delays postponing the opening of the Bowen Island Community Health Centre in its new permanent location on Miller Road, the BICHC began operating in a temporary location in Dr. Susanne Schloegl’s former practice location at Artisan Square last week on Oct. 23.
Dr. Schloegl and Dr. Matt Blackwood — both of whom have joined the BICHC team — will see current patients as usual at Artisan Square and continue to see those patients at the new facility when it opens. Effective Oct. 23, they will be joined at Artisan Square by Dr. Lindsay Downey and Nurse Practitioner Laura Fitzgerald.
Islanders who have signed up with GP Link will be contacted by BICHC staff in the coming days and weeks as the team begins to build out its patient lists.
“This isn’t our first choice,” says BICHC Executive Director Suzanne Saatchi. “But we have a team of practitioners in place and a list of patients looking to access care on the island, so we needed to find a creative solution to get things rolling.”
Funding for BICHC operations and the contracting of health practitioners is not directly linked to the building of the facility. With Dr. Schloegl’s Artisan Square lease coming due on Oct. 31 in anticipation of her practice’s move to the new health centre, the BICHC Board took over a temporary lease in that location to ensure the continuity of care for residents.
Saatchi says the temporary location means not only uninterrupted access to primary care on Bowen, but also increased access to care thanks to the expanding BICHC team.
Currently, there remains no firm official opening date for the new BICHC facility on Miller Road.
