To help address doctor shortages in health-care facilities around B.C., Island Health has become the first in the province to approve physician assistants.
These positions do not have a medical degree but they have undergone a two-year graduate program and work under supervising physicians.
It is hoped that the one-year pilot with two physician assistants at Saanich Peninsula Hospital can eventually be rolled out across B.C.
“Many people have been advocating for PAs (physician assistants) for the last 10 to 15 years,” Dr. Paeta Lehn, ER doctor and the medical lead for the Physician Assistant Program at Saanich Peninsula Hospital told Global News.
He previously worked in Manitoba and he said physician assistants are common there.
“I had seen the value of having physician assistants in terms of helping with the volume, helping with procedures, just, you know, just being part of that allied health care team for cohesive patient care,” Lehn added.
He said patient volume at Saanich Peninsula Hospital has increased by about 40 to 50 per cent in the past few years.
“Physician assistants work directly with a supervising physician,” Lehn said.
“And so in the emergency department, that would be an emergency doctor on for that shift. And basically physician assistants function as a physician extender in a way. And so they can see additional patients, so they can see essentially see any patient that their supervising physician feels comfortable with them seeing.”
Fuw Bei is one of the physician assistants at Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
“I love this job,” he told Global News.
“I always describe it as an extra arm or an extra part of a doctor.”
Merritt Mayor Michael Goetz told Global News he would love to have this program in his community.
“In 2023, we were closed 19 times,” he said. “Last year we were closed 20 times. So a grand total of 39 times in two years. It is a battle that goes on.”
Goetz said he had spoken with the new Health Minister Josie Osborne in mid-December and she told him she is committed to working on a plan to address the doctor and nurse shortages, especially in rural areas.
“I think this minister can see that there’s issues that need to be solved and we need to work towards a plan,” he added.
Goetz said a physician assistant still has to work with a doctor, so it won’t be able to help with physician shortages but it’s a step in the right direction.
“They would be able to be an extra hand for the doctor or be an extra, you know, take on some of that load and then the doctor would be able to move on. It’s like an apprentice building a house.”