B.C. has gained 708 family doctors over the last year. Here's where they're working
Last week, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced that 708 more doctors are practising longitudinal family medicine in the province this year than last year.
This week, his office shared statistics on where those net new family doctors are plying their trade.
Of the 708, the largest portion – 211 – are practising in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. Island Health saw the next-largest net gain, with 179 more family doctors this year than last.
Totals grew by 138 in Interior Health and 132 in Fraser Health, while Northern Health saw a net increase of 35 family doctors.
The remaining 13 of the 708 are classified in the Health Ministry's statistics as coming from an "unknown health authority." Asked for clarification of what this means, the ministry said in an email to CTV News that these family doctors have service contracts with the province that see them fly in and out of remote communities, primarily in the Northern Health region.
'A triumphant thing'
During his announcement last week, Dix attributed the increase in physicians practising family medicine to the province's new payment model, which took effect last year.
"I think that is a success that is not only significant in terms of doctors choosing the new model … but doctors choosing to practice family medicine in the community," he said.
Earlier this week, B.C. Family Doctors president Dr. Tahmeena Ali told CTV Morning Live the transition away from a fee-for-service model has helped retain family doctors and attract new ones, calling the effects of the change "a triumphant thing."
The statistics the ministry shared Friday, however, suggest this triumph is not being felt equally across the province's five health regions.
Fraser Health sees least growth
Of note, despite being far and away the largest health authority by population, Fraser Health has seen the second-smallest gain in family doctors in terms of raw numbers.
As a percentage of the existing workforce, Fraser Health's gain is dead last. The health authority added 132 doctors to its 2022-23 total of 1,308, for a 2023-24 total of 1,440, according to the ministry's statistics.
That's an increase of 10 per cent, and certainly cause for celebration in a province where, as of 2022, nearly a million people were without a family doctor.
In his update last week, Dix acknowledged there were roughly 220,000 people in B.C. who had requested a family doctor and still don't have one.
Statistically speaking, a significant number of those live in Fraser Health, which is home to more than 2.1 million people, according to provincial population estimates.
While Fraser Health saw a 10-per-cent increase in its total number of family physicians, neighbouring Vancouver Coastal Health – which has about 800,000 fewer residents – saw its total increase by 17.9 per cent, from 1,179 to 1,390.
All of the other health authorities have even smaller populations, but each one has seen a larger percentage increase in net new family doctors than Fraser Health.
In Northern Health, the increase was 14.2 per cent. If the fly-in doctors categories as serving an "unknown health authority" are included, then the region has 19.5 per cent more family doctors than it did a year ago.
In Interior Health, the number of family doctors grew by 18 per cent, and in Island Health it grew by 23 per cent.
Per capita figures
The end result is a significant disparity between Fraser Health and B.C.'s other health authorities when looking at the number of family doctors per capita.
Using the Health Ministry's figures for family physicians and the province's 2024 population estimates for each health authority, CTV News calculated that there are 66.3 family doctors per 100,000 residents in Fraser Health. That's the lowest total in the province.
In Vancouver Coastal Health, there are 104.7 per 100,000, which is the highest ratio province-wide.
Interior Health and Island Health also have more than 100 family doctors per 100,000 residents, at 100.9 and 101.7, respectively, while Northern Health has 89.8 per 100,000, not including the fly-in doctors.
This disparity between Fraser Health and the rest of the province – particularly Vancouver Coastal Health – mirrors those seen in other aspects of health care.
For example, a 2023 report by the Surrey Board of Trade on that city's hospital needs noted that Fraser Health received $2,229 per person in provincial health-care spending in 2020-21. Vancouver Coastal Health received $3,033 per person that year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
Britney Spears settles long-running legal dispute with estranged father, finally bringing ultimate end to conservatorship
Britney Spears has reached a settlement with her estranged father more than two years after the court-ordered termination of a conservatorship that had given him control of her life, their attorneys said.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.