TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2013
www.pqbnews.com
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
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Gold 2012 General Excellence
FOREST FANTASIES
GENERALS GET FIRST VICTORY
Kelyn Opel, right, nets a pair as local junior B club beats Peninsula Panthers
Walking the trails of Milner is extra special until Oct. 14
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A15
OCEANSIDE HEALTH CENTRE
All systems now a go Urgent care opened on Monday; family doctor added for Sept. 30 JOHN HARDING editor@pqbnews.com
The pieces of a complicated puzzle seem to be coming into place at the Oceanside Health Centre. The Vancouver Island Health Authority says residents and visitors will have closer-to-home access to immediate, same-day medical services now that the urgent care service in the new Oceanside Health Centre (OHC) opened on Monday. “The Oceanside Health Centre’s urgent care service has been an eagerly-awaited new and additional medical service for this community,” Michelle Stilwell, MLA for Parksville-Qualicum said through a VIHA release. “With urgent care now being available locally, more patients will be able to get the care they need without having to travel to an emergency department in Nanaimo, Comox or Port Alberni.” This comes on the heels of another VIHA announcement last week that Dr. Marlene van der Weyde, a family physician based in Qualicum Beach, is relocating her practice to the OHC effective Sept. 30 and will be accepting new patients. “I am excited to be joining the Oceanside Health Centre team,” Dr. van der Weyde said in a VIHA-issued news release. “My existing and new patients will now have access to a team of health care professionals, including myself, a nurse practitioner and a counsellor.” Urgent care OHC will be available seven days per week, 365 days a year from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. No medical appointment is needed for urgent care. Urgent care assesses and treats medical conditions that need same-day care but do not require hospital-based emergency department services. On the primary care side, according to VIHA, Dr. van der Weyde is one of up to four new physicians who will eventually provide team-based primary care services in the OHC. Initially, primary care services will be available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with extended hours to 6 p.m on Tuesday and Thursday. In the future, VIHA says clinic hours will expand to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday. See LOCAL RESIDENTS, page A7 Also see EDITORIAL, page A10
LISSA ALEXANDER PHOTO
SANTAS ON BIKES: More than 1,200 motorcycles were part of the 29th Annual Port Alberni Toy Run on Saturday, which started in the parking lot of Little Qualicum Falls. Above, Betty Lou and Robert Borrett from Port Alberni stand with their toy-covered bike. See story page A15.
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