About

PCN Structure

Background

Pre-PCN: Boundary Proof of Concept and Integrated Primary Community Care Program 

In the years before the provincial government initiated the implementation of Primary Care Networks across BC in 2018, Kootenay Boundary was already a leader in bringing team-based care to the region.

In 2017, the Boundary Proof of Concept was established with Interior Health funding to bring team-based care resources to clinics in Grand Forks, Christina Lake, Midway, Greenwood, and Rock Creek. The Boundary Health Co-op was established to employ 3 RNs and one Social Worker to work with Boundary Clinics, and the Boundary Proof of Concept continues to this day. The success of this model went on to inspire the co-located structure of the KB PCN.

For over a decade, team-based care resources have also been integrated into KB clinics through IH’s Integrated Primary Community Care program (IPCC), which funds RNs and Social Workers working within KB clinics. IPCC staff are now integrated in the Primary Care Network.  

PCN 1.0 (2019-2021)

In 2019, Kootenay Boundary received funding from the Ministry of Health to implement the Kootenay Boundary Primary Care Network (KB PCN). As a Wave 1 PCN, KB was among the first regions in the province to begin PCN implementation.

In the beginning, all KB primary care clinics were invited to join the PCN through an Expression of Interest process. At that time, 13 primary care clinics were ready to join the PCN and enter into an agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) with PCN Steering Committee. 

Over the next three years (2019-2021) over 30 PCN staff were hired to work with these clinics to provide team-based care. These clinicians include:

• Nurse Practitioners (NP)

• Registered Nurses (RN)

• Allied Health staff co-located in clinics; these include Social Workers (SW), Physiotherapists (PT), and an Occupational Therapist (OT);

• Allied Health staff providing regional support to all PCN clinics; these include a Primary Care Clinical Pharmacist (PCCP), Registered Dietitian (RD), and Respiratory Therapist (RT);  

• Aboriginal Health Coordinators offering services to Aboriginal patients across KB.

The KB PCN also established a new regional clinic (KB Health Online) to provide virtual care to high priority unattached patients across Kootenay Boundary.  KB Health Online opened in January 2022 and is overseen by the PCN Steering Committee.

PCN 2.0 (2022-2023)

Because the first phase of KB PCN implementation included only those clinics that chose to join the PCN through the Expression of Interest process, approximately half of all patients in Kootenay Boundary remained without access to team-based care resources through the PCN. 

In 2022, the PCN Steering Committee set out to resolve this inequity by beginning a process to expand the PCN to include the remaining primary care clinics and patients in the region. 

In August 2022, the Ministry of Health approved the first year of a three-year expansion plan designed to equitably expand PCN resources to all KB providers and patients. Since then we have been working to hire new PCN staff into new PCN clinics, while at the same time supporting ongoing optimization within the PCN to increase patient attachment and quality of care in Kootenay Boundary.

PCN Governance Refresh (2023)

In December 2022, the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC), which is a partnership of the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC, shared preliminary information about upcoming changes to the governance of PCNs across the province. A provincial PCN Governance Transition Working Group was formed in January 2023 to develop more specific recommendations related to the proposed changes.  

On August 23, 2023 the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC) co-chairs provided an update on the Primary Care Network (PCN) Governance refresh changes. Detailed information on the refreshed approach to Primary Care Networks can be found on this website or in this PDF.  More information about how these changes may impact the Kootenay Boundary (KB) PCN will be shared by the FPSC in the fall of 2023.

The Ministry of Health has paused further expansion funding for the KB PCN until further notice, meaning that the second and third years of our expansion proposal are not being considered at this time. 

For more information about the PCN Governance Refresh, visit our resources page.