Serving our Community Through Healthcare Innovation: Dr. Chris Dowler, Medical Director, Shoreline Medical Society by Karen Morgan Director of Development, Shoreline Medical Society
When did you first learn about Shoreline Medical Society? What did you think about it? I did residency in a small town in rural Manitoba where everyone banded together to recruit physicians, improve primary care and support the local hospital. When I returned to the Island to be closer to family, I looked for a similar opportunity. While locuming at a local clinic and SPH, I was introduced to the concept of a community non-profit society focused on primary healthcare and jumped at the opportunity. I signed on to Shoreline before it opened, excited about creating a new model for primary healthcare.
How does Shoreline Medical differ from other clinics? Shoreline pioneered a new model of primary care in B.C. Skilled, caring clinicians and bold, creative community members came together and took a chance in order to build something new and impactful to the community. During our eight years of operation, physicians and community members have collaborated to shape it. Our physicians and nurse practitioners not only provide primary care, but also serve the community through work at the hospital,
long-term care, in the Youth Clinic and other community services. Shoreline's nonprofit, charitable model has allowed us to support physicians taking on these community services, while freeing them from a lot of the management and administrative work they take on in privately-owned practices. It has been an important factor in our success in aggressively recruiting physicians.
How has Shoreline helped our community? When Shoreline opened, SPH was in crisis; many family physicians were about to retire, and there was no hope in sight. Shoreline aggressively recruited physicians, attached thousands of patients, stabilized acute care services at SPH, saved the only Youth Clinic on the Peninsula from closure, and served as an example to other communities who are adopting our model. In the last eight years, Shoreline has recruited 20 physicians and two nurse practitioners, both attaching new patients and maintaining attachment for no fewer than 16 physicians who have left family practice in our community.
What makes you proudest about working at Shoreline? Through empowering community members and creating this new model of primary healthcare, we have boldly gone where no one else has before. We remain committed to serving this community and thank everyone for their support.
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