To the Bowen Island Community,
The Bowen Island Community Health Centre is less than a year old, and in that time, we have worked hard to grow and meet the needs of our residents. To continue providing quality care, we need the support of all Bowen Islanders in ensuring a respectful workplace for our team.
We are striving to achieve many things at once:
1. Attaching patients — Connecting individuals with a designated family doctor or nurse practitioner who will oversee their ongoing medical care. An attached provider ensures better management of chronic conditions, preventive care, and continuity of treatment, rather than seeking care on a visit-by-visit basis. On Bowen, many patients have delayed addressing health concerns for years, making their care more complex.
2. Maintaining capacity for same-day urgent care — Ensuring that Bowen residents with time-sensitive medical issues can be seen when they need immediate attention.
3. Recruiting physicians and staff who live on the island — Providing stability and reducing disruptions caused by commuting staff.
4. Retaining our entire team — Including physicians, our nurse practitioner, nurses, and administrative staff, all of whom play a crucial role in delivering consistent, high-quality care.
We understand that accessing healthcare can be stressful and, at times, frustrating. However, in recent months, our team has faced an increasing amount of anger and verbal abuse from patients, often making them feel unsafe.
The reality is that we do not yet have the staffing levels to meet all the island’s demands, and we cannot serve everyone’s needs all the time. Additionally, we are not an emergency room — some cases will require referral to the mainland when they exceed what we can safely manage at our facility.
As we continue to grow, it will take time not only to build our team but also to refine our patient schedules to better balance the needs of the community. We are working hard to improve, but this process requires patience and understanding from everyone.
Our team is committed to providing the best care possible, and we ask for your kindness, cooperation, and respect in return. We are here to help, and we need your support to continue doing so.
Let’s work together to build a health centre that will serve Bowen Island for years to come.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Saatchi / Executive Director, BICHC
