B.C. aims to poach U.S. doctors, nurses by highlighting 'uncertainty and chaos'

brits columbia river has turned its eyeball toward luring doctors and nurses from the United States to displace compass north in what Health Minister Josie Osborne is calling an "unprecedented" recruitment opportunity.

Osborne says the province is changing its licensing rules so U.S.-trained doctors can begin practising in B.C. Right away, without any need for further assessment, exams or training.

She said there will be a similar scale-back of the barriers facing U.S.-trained nurses and that a marketing campaign will be unveiled in Washington, Oregon and California within the next few months.

"With the uncertainty and chaos happening south of our border, we have an unprecedented opportunity to attract skilled health-care workers interested in moving to Canada," Osborne said in a statement.

She was more blunt in comments to reporters on Tuesday.

"Whether it's because their federal government is withdrawing from the World Health Organization, cutting public services or attacking reproductive rights, health professionals in the U.S. Have a good reason to be alarmed," she told a news conference.

"This provides an opportunity for B.C. To send a clear message to doctors and nurses who are working in the U.S. Now is the time to come to British Columbia. We will welcome you to our beautiful province where together, we can strengthen public health care … and build healthy communities." 

She said the province would also promote opportunities in rural and remote communities facing shortages of health-care workers.

Osborne rejected concern that the campaign may risk further aggravating U.S. Officials during an escalating trade war between Canada and the United States.

"It's a great time for people to consider moving to a place where they feel supported, where they feel welcomed, and where they know that they're going to have the kind of colleagues beside them to support them in this work," she said.

The province says the recruitment campaign will build on the success of recent changes made to its payment model for family doctors, first put into place in February 2023. Since then, Osborne says, 1,001 new family doctors have started practising in B.C., with a "record number" of residents — 250,000 — attached to a primary care provider in 2024. 

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Unlike the traditional fee-for-service system, the new model blends a salary-like payment structure with compensation based on time spent with patients and the complexity of cases, according to the B.C. Health ministry.

On average, the province says the model would boost a family physician's salary to $385,000 a year, up from roughly $250,000.

In its own statement, Doctors of B.C. Said the new payment model is "already showing results," with president Charlene Lui calling it a "vital step in attracting doctors to B.C. And keeping them in family medicine which helps to attach more patients." 

A statement from the Ministry of Health said the changes related to fast-tracking credentials for doctors are expected in the next few months. They follow similar changes recently made in Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Osborne said American nurses will soon be able to apply for licensure directly with the B.C. College of Nurses, which would then review their education, registration and regulatory history in the U.S. National nurse-licensure and disciplinary database.

About 400,000 people are still waiting to be matched with a family doctor, Osborne said, underscoring the need for more help even with the recent success.

B.C. Nurses' Union President Adriane Gear said there are about 6,000 nursing vacancies across B.C. And highlighted the need to improve working conditions for those already doing the job.

"[We] know that we can recruit people, but the question is, can we retain them?" she said in an interview last month.

Likewise, Dr. Rita McCracken, a family doctor and an assistant professor at UBC, said the province needs to continue to look for ways to expand on recent improvements to payment models.

As a next step, she said, the province should look not just to recruiting more doctors but also setting up team-based clinics across the province, which would see a variety of medical professionals working out of the same space.

"I think we need to be ready to try new things. Measure them, keep the ones that are working and drop the ones that are not," she said.

Journalist, Northern British Columbia

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