Luckily Jolene had mentors and helpers. With one of her best friends Marijana, they brainstormed all through 2021 on their weekly “self care Tuesday” hikes around the Lower Mainland. Jolene recalls some of the most foundational points coming out on their walks around Buntzen Lake. Jolene’s husband Eric was a tsunami of encouragement and project management guidance. Marijana and her husband Zoran with their company MZ Innovations used the funds available through the BC government Launch Online Grant to plug endless hours of coding and web design to create a seamless practitioner experience. Another player here was Margot, Jolene’s long time support staff, who introduced Jolene to Dr Sofia Bayfield MD – Shipyards Health’s first family doctor. And last but not least, Tania, Jolene’s full time admin staff, returned from maternity leave in June 2022 to take on a huge learning curve, and did so with commitment and excitement, in order to learn the roles and procedures for an official MOA in supporting medical doctors. A dream team had come together and a solution was in the works so that our community MD’s and patients could reap the benefits.
With high overhead costs in the province MD’s are seeking early retirement, closing their practices or moving to walk-in clinics and telemedicine, or opting for specialites away from Family Medicine. Family doctors are tired of running a business and can no longer afford to work with escalating overhead costs. Doctors in BC have a fee for service model which is limiting their salaries in the face of escalating costs of practicing. On the other side of that, millions of BC residents need to see their doctors in person for many medical concerns. The lines are not meeting in the middle.
In the summer of 2022 SYH welcomed its first MD providing her an affordable option to keep her family practice ignited for our community. We are so excited to be a part of the solution in improving retention of healthcare and allied health care providers in and for our community. We are also proud to be a landing site for patients in our community providing team based care with our naturopathic doctor and pharmacy also on premise. Pure Pharmacy adds another dimension to our team based patient care. The pharmacists at the location along with the holistic health advisors aid patients in answering their questions about treatments, side effects, interactions, immunizations and more. Collaboration is key and it is all for the health benefit of our cherished community.
Today Shipyards Health is more successful because it acknowledges the struggles of family practice and finds a patient friendly and pocket friendly solution to keep them serving medical family care to our community. Jolene is so excited that after taking a few breaths you will see her re-igniting her dream team to expand this brand to other communities in BC. Stay tuned – this story is to be continued …
With love,
Jolene & The team at Shipyards Health