B.C. mayor’s bold plan to hire family doctors as municipal employees draws national attention

COLWOOD, B.C., MAYOR DOUG KOBAYAHSI / LINKEDIN PHOTO

When Colwood, B.C., lost its last family doctor, Mayor Doug Kobayashi decided to act. “I was absolutely stunned,” he told CBC of learning in 2022 that his physician was moving away. Instead of waiting for provincial help, he proposed hiring doctors as municipal employees — a model that is now being replicated across Canada.

“As an employee, we want you to be a doctor 100 per cent of the time. No more administration, we’ll look after this. We will give you a salary, a fixed salary. We will give you benefits, all the benefits,” Kobayashi explained.

The city covers rent, overhead and staffing at the new Colwood Clinic, which opened earlier this year. So far, one doctor has been hired, with two more expected by November and a goal of eight within five years.

Dr. Cassandra Stiller, the first recruit, said, “I really just get to focus on the patient care aspect. And for me that was really something that intrigued me.”

Patients say the model is life-changing. “It was like winning the lottery,” said Shayne Eldridge, who, with his wife, had waited nearly three years for a doctor.