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June 8 - American doctors wanted
BC's healthcare recruitment plan. New restaurant roundup This week's top stories.
Capital Daily Team
June 08, 2025
Good morning !
There have been hot temperatures and hot attractions around the region all weekend, from Ocean Week to the Tea Party to today's big block party on Cook Street.
Before you go out and enjoy those events (or stay in and enjoy a relaxing Sunday), we have recaps of the week's top news and previews of some mouth-watering upcoming restaurant openings. First up, though, are updates on BC's efforts to alleviate healthcare challenges and on the local city-run clinic that has drawn national (and, it turns out, international) attention.
— Cam
Today’s approx. read time: 4 / 8 minutes
🌡️ Weather Forecast
NEWS
BC launches $5M ad campaign to recruit nurses from US West Coast
Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi speaks in front of the ad designs at last week's announcement. Photo: BC Gov Flickr
It's part of a recruitment push that began in March. So far, 704 physicians and 525 nurses from the US have expressed interest in coming to BC for work and the province says it has already recruited 100+ US nurses.
The marketing push (see examples above and below) will run for six weeks in Washington, Oregon, and California, with video, social media, print, and billboard ads—all within 10 miles (16km) of a healthcare facility. Premier David Eby says the uncertainty created by Trump in the US could drive more health workers to BC.
To facilitate this push, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives sped up its registration process for US nurses. BC's College of Physicians and Surgeons is looking at removing licensing exam requirements for US doctors to practice in BC.
The province announced the ad campaign last week in Colwood, where the new city-owned clinic is on track to have four doctors by fall. Friday's event introduced one of those doctors, Muthanna Yacoub. He is coming from the US, where he said it was “eye-opening” that “due to the extremely high fees compared to insurance coverage, patients seeking appropriate care is measured against their ability to afford it.”
City-run Colwood clinic spotlighted again
Colwood’s mayor Doug Kobayashi said this spring that it’s likely the city will exceed its goal of eight physician hires in two years. Other municipalities, locally and around BC and Canada, have been looking at adopting Colwood's city-run format.
The model takes things such as admin and facility management off of doctors’ plates, compared to a private practice. The city hires the doctors as municipal employees and then bills the province. At her recent conference, Health Minister Josie Osborne argued that BC's single payer system in general can attract US doctors with its comparatively lower admin burden.
The municipal clinic has been hiring out-of-province candidates to avoid poaching doctors from other communities. Like this new provincial ad push, the goal has been to expand BC's heath worker pool rather than just rearranging the current shortage. Social media recruitment ads have been planned for not only in the US but also the UK and South Africa.
⚠️ Capital Bulletin
Heat warning continues, with temp.s higher than in recent weeks—though now looking unlikely to hit 30C in Victoria.
UV Index 9 (Very High) today.
Vulnerability to heat can be affected by age, pregnancy, diabetics, heart or respiratory disease, substance use, disabilities or cognitive impairments, living alone, and some medication. [CTV]
$575 fine for throwing cigarette butts out of a car, Saanich Police warn after grass fire beside Pat Bay.
Be careful boating near Willows Beach today, due to Oak Bay Tea Party.
Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.
