Richmondites can get urgent health care seven days a week starting April 1 at a new Urgent Primary Care Clinic (UPCC) in city centre.
The temporary location of the Urgent Primary Care Clinic will be at 7671 Alderbridge Way, the Community Health Access Centre, and will be open Monday to Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday and statutory holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The UPCC is meant for non-life-threatening medical issues, while emergencies like heart attacks and trauma will be treated at the emergency department of the hospital.
There will be GPs, registered nurses and a social worker at the UPCC, and when the permanent location opens in November, hours will be extended and there will also be mental health and medical diagnostic services.
This is the 24th urgent clinic in the province and the fifth in Vancouver Coastal Health.
According to the province, 26 per cent of Richmond residents don’t have a family doctor.
The province announced the urgent primary care clinic on Friday but when asked by Richmond News, no more details were given on the rebuild of the Richmond Hospital except to say it is in the budget.
