Planning for Primary Health Care on Gabriola Island

In April of 2008 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Ministry of Health, Vancouver Island Health Authority, Drs. Bosman, Harding, Hoffmann and Mackenzie and the Gabriola Health Care Society.  The Memorandum of Understanding was intended to provide solutions for facilitating a sustainable primary health care for Gabriola.

To enable and ensure physician participation and the provision of specific information about their practices and needs, a sum of twenty thousand ($20,000) was provided by the MOH to reimburse the doctors for their time and attendance at meetings.

Another fifty thousand ($50,000) was granted by the Ministry of Health to Gabriola Health Care Society to support the planning process, providing that the following criteria were met:

• Open invitation to residents to be involved in a planning process that utilizes methods such as surveys or town hall meetings
• Open invitation to all Gabriola physicians with patients on Gabriola
• Other health care providers from ambulance service, home and community care for example to be involved in the planning process
• Representatives from both VIHA and the MOH need to be at any public planning process
• Working hours for physicians are sustainable and support and maintain the health and wellbeing of the physicians
• Plan must be based upon: population based data, evidence, resident and provider experience
• MOH will provide examples of successful experiences from comparable communities to GHCS and the plan be informed by those experiences
• Plan benefits Gabriola by building upon the current investments and programs in primary health care and physician remuneration
• Plan to include indicators important to the residents and providers on Gabriola to measure progress and success.

The above information was excerpted from the Gabriola Health Care Society website, 2008 Public Health Care Sessions, Memorandum of Understanding.