Key takeaways from our meeting with Health Minister Josie Osborne

On January 28, BC Family Doctors met with the new Minister of Health, Josie Osborne, to talk about how we can continue strengthening primary care in B.C. Our president, Dr. Maryam Zeineddin, chief medical officer Dr. Renee Fernandez, and executive director Alexa Pitoulis had a productive conversation with the Minister about the challenges family doctors face and how we can work together to improve patient care.

Celebrating the LFP Payment Model

We thanked the minister for her support of the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) Payment Model, which has helped stabilize family medicine. We talked about ways to make it even better so that more family doctors can continue providing high-quality, long-term, relationship-based care to their patients.

Improving access to care

We also highlighted the urgent need to address gaps in rural healthcare. Every British Columbian deserves access to a family doctor, no matter where they live. We look forward to working with the ministry on solutions to make this happen.

Reducing paperwork

Family doctors want to focus on caring for patients, but too much paperworktakes time away from what really matters. We spoke to the Minister about the need to cut down on red tape so doctors can spend more time with their patients and less time on forms and approvals.

What’s next?

We appreciate Minister Osborne’s time and commitment to strengthening family medicine. We’ll continue to advocate for family doctors and work with the government to build a healthcare system that puts patients first. We look forward to keeping these important conversations going and welcoming the minister for future discussions.