Port Moody to push province to tackle affordable space crisis for family doctors

Port Moody council is calling on the province to address one of the roadblocks in the ongoing family doctor shortage: the lack of affordable clinic space.

In a unanimous vote on June 10, council approved a resolution to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) convention that urges the provincial government to work with municipalities, developers, and Divisions of Family Practice to ensure health infrastructure is incorporated into new developments. 

The motion, co-authored by Mayor Meghan Lahti and Coun. Amy Lubik, also calls for provincial funding and leasing models to make space for clinics more affordable, and for health facilities to be included in the scope of amenities eligible for Amenity Cost Charges (ACCs).

While Lahti said the province has done good work on restructured payment, fee and funding models for family physicians, the expense of healthcare workspaces remains a major issue.

“What we’re talking about really is a space bottleneck,” she said.

A lack of affordable space for family physicians in the Tri-Cities has been an issue for years, with many clinics either being pushed or priced out by new development.

The background memo notes that more than 700,000 British Columbians currently lack access to a family physician, and with the provincial population growing at 1.7 percent annually, the need is increasing. 

It adds the lack of clinical space – due to high rental costs and a shortage of properly configured sites – is making it harder for new doctors to establish practices or expand existing offices. Even as the province shifts toward more team-based care, the necessary square footage for integrated care models remains out of reach in many communities

“This puts it on the radar for us to consider when we are talking to developers that come forward,” Lahti added. “It really elevates it to a point where we’re taking a stand publicly.”

Coun. Amy Lubik said that finding clinic space has come up in discussions with the BC Division of Family Practice and other healthcare stakeholders.

“We are facing a primary care crisis,” she said. “Without a regular family doctor, patients turn to walk-in clinics, emergency departments, or virtual providers, and none of that continues the continuum of care. It doesn’t provide preventative care, it doesn’t provide chronic disease management, and this can lead to delayed diagnosis and unmanaged conditions.”

Lubik emphasized the shared challenges between municipalities and healthcare providers. “We are living in a world with complex problems and no simple solutions. But we can start somewhere, and we can understand where some of the bottlenecks are.”

As municipalities like Port Moody brace for population increases under provincial housing mandates, Lubik said it’s vital infrastructure planning includes health services.

“We hear from our residents that we have a lack of health infrastructure,” she said. “We’ve been directing our economic development staff to work with developers on trying to find healthcare-related anchor tenants. But again, it’s that funding piece and the space piece that we keep coming up against when we talk to doctors.”

The motion now heads to the UBCM convention in September, where it will be debated by local governments across the province. If endorsed, it would become part of the formal advocacy platform directed at the provincial government.

Dr. Darren Joneson, president elect of BC Family Doctors, which is the main advocacy organization for family doctors in the province, called in to support the motion.

He described the provincial health care systems as “in crisis,” noting that patients are struggling to get access to health care resources.

“It’s important that we remove barriers for access,” Joneson said. “To be able to dedicate space in new builds for primary care clinics, I think is genius.”