In Victoria, across Vancouver Island, and in many communities throughout BC, it can be incredibly difficult to access a doctor when a medical issue comes up.
Recently, someone posted a document online detailing how to access a medical professional when the need arises.
Here are some ways of getting the medical attention you need, when you need it in Victoria:
Find a family doctor
The wait list for a family doctor is long, but it’s always worth it to be in the queue. To get a family doctor through Island Health, you have to submit your details to HealthLinkBC.
If you resubmit at any time, for any reason, you are pushed once again to the back of the queue.
Emergency room
Never ideal, but an emergency is an emergency. If someone is in need of medical attention and they have exhausted all other options, going into the emergency room may be their only hope.
In some cities, hospitals will post their estimated wait times online so people can try to go to the hospital with the least amount of people, but Victoria is not one of those cities.
Just remember to be nice to your fellow patients and to the nursing staff.
Non-emergency
When in doubt, if you have a medical question or if you are seeking advice, calling 8-1-1 is always an option.
When someone calls 8-1-1, they are connected with someone who will be able to connect them with a registered nurse, a registered dietitian, a qualified exercise professional or a pharmacist.
They can give advice on what you should do next, or ease your mind if something isn’t that serious.
Urgent and primary care centres
To get into an urgent or primary medical centre on the same day as a medical issue arises is nothing short of a miracle in some communities.
Since the pandemic, many urgent and primary care centres (UPCCs), or “walk-in clinics,” have changed the way they work to being call-in clinics instead of walk-ins.
Most locations in Victoria open at 8 a.m. and if you don’t call within the first few minutes and manage to get through, you may have to wait until the next day.
The website Medimap is a great tool for finding the phone number to call, to see people’s reviews of their experiences and to potentially see if they are at capacity or not.
There are six UPCCs in the Victoria area:
- Esquimalt UPCC – 890 Esquimalt Road – (250) 519-3880
- Gorge UPCC – 63 Gorge Road E – (250) 519-3800
- Downtown Victoria UPCC – 1107 Pandora Avenue – (250) 519-3870
- James Bay UPCC – Unit B-547 Michigan Street – (250) 519-3770
- North Quadra UPCC – 100–4420 Chatterton Way – (250) 519-3820
- West Shore UPCC – #104-582 Goldstream Avenue – (250) 519-6919
Pharmacy appointments
Depending on what you need help with, if you call 8-1-1, HealthLinkBC may advise you to just go see a pharmacist.
Recently the BC government gave additional power and responsibilities to pharmacists to ease the pressure being put on the health care system right now.
A pharmacist can now provide some prescriptions without an individual having to go get a prescription first.
BC pharmacists can prescribe medication for the following ailments:
- Acne
- Allergic rhinitis
- Conjunctivitis (allergic, bacterial or viral)
- Dermatitis (allergic, atopic, contact, diaper or seborrheic)
- Dysmenorrhea
- Dyspepsia
- Fungal infections (onychomycosis, tinea corporis infection, tinea cruris infection or tinea Pedis infection)
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease
- Headache
- Hemorrhoids
- Herpes labialis
- Impetigo
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Nicotine dependence
- Oral ulcers (canker sores, aphthous ulcers)
- Oropharyngeal candidiasis
- Shingles
- Threadworms and pinworms
- Urinary tract infection (uncomplicated)
- Urticaria, including insect bites
- Vaginal candidiasis
Pharmacy appointments can be booked online here.
Online doctor appointments
There are more and more doctors who are moving to online practices because they can improve their reach and be able to provide appointments to those even in the most remote parts of BC.
There are also lots of different services that are free and help connect online physicians with patients. From there, they can provide prescriptions or specialist referrals.
However, with more people in BC needing to turn to these services in the province, it is becoming slightly difficult to find an appointment online as well.
Some examples of online physician platforms are:
- Telus Health
- Rocket Doctor – you’ll have to put yourself on a waitlist but they usually get back to people fairly quickly
- Dr. Refill – specifically for those seeking to refill a prescription
Sexual health matters
All sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing is going through GetCheckedOnline in Victoria. They also serve the Vancouver, Maple Ridge, Duncan, Kamloops, Kimberley and Nelson communities in BC.
They are a free and confidential branch of the BC Centre for Disease Control who work in collaboration with LifeLabs to organize appointments for people to give blood and urine samples if they want to be tested for any STI.
As soon as your samples are tested they are securely uploaded to your GetCheckedOnline profile.
There is also the Island Sexual Health Society on Quadra Street.
They are an appointment-based service who help with any and all matters relating to sexual health and gender identity.
Individuals must call to make an appointment.
They deal with sexual health matters such as:
- Birth/bleed control methods
- IUD and implant insertions, replacements and removal
- Cervical (Pap) Screening
- Pregnancy Testing and Pro-choice options
- Gender affirming care and apparel appointments
- PEP starts and renewals
- Sexual health vaccines/immunizations
Although they do not provide STI testing at the Island Sexual Health Society, they will walk a caller through the symptoms they think may be related to an STI as well as walk you through if they may need treatment for an STI.
If you can think of any other ways to access medical care when it’s needed in Victoria, let us know in the comments!
