Peace Arch Community Medical Clinic is closing.
Clinic manager Kathie Torhjelm and Nancy Mathias, executive director of the White Rock-South Surrey Division of Family Practice, confirmed Friday that tomorrow (Tuesday) will be the 1545 Johnston Rd. clinic's last day of operations.
And while the move comes with some sadness – October would have marked the clinic's 23rd anniversary – Torhjelm and Mathias said it does not raise concerns of a shortage in after-hours care.
"This is five other clinics that are providing other walk-in services," Mathias said, referring to a list of clinics operating in the White Rock/South Surrey area.
"We've been telling our patients for… weeks," Torhjelm added. "Most of them have a family doctor and that's kind of the go-to. It's always best to have the one person that knows you."
Shareholders of the clinic voted in January not to renew the site's lease, which expires in October. A key reason for the decision was a shortage of physicians to fill shifts.
Hoping the clinic could remain open in some form, a transition committee sought out and met with people potentially interested in taking over. Staff were advised in early March that that effort had not been successful.
Tohrjelm emphasized the move does not affect doctors of the Uptown Medical Centre, which is located in the same building.
Other clinics on the Peninsula are Hilltop Medical (140-15321 16 Ave.), Morgan Creek Walk-in (106-15252 32 Ave.), Peninsula Medical Clinic (109-15388 24 Ave.), Semiahmoo Medical Clinic (3-1767 152 St.) and South Surrey Medical Clinic (101-15850 26 Ave.).
Torhjelm said pamphlets with that information will be kept available at the Uptown Medical Centre for the next several months, to assist patients who arrive to see a doctor in finding another clinic.
"The last thing we want is for people to just head to emergency," she said.
White Rock/South Surrey residents looking for a family doctor may call the Primary Care Access Clinic at 604-531-3111.
Mathias also named HealthLink BC as a "very good service." Available by calling 811, it connects callers to a nurse at any time of the day or night. More information is also online, at www.healthlinkbc.ca