ESQUIMALT, B.C. — A new primary care clinic officially opened in Esquimalt on Sept. 11, bringing six nurse practitioners on board to take on as many as 6,000 to 7,000 patients in a community where thousands currently have no family doctor.
The Terra Nova Medical Clinic occupies 2,000 square feet on the lower level of Pacific House, a newly built mixed-use building at 899 Esquimalt Road. The space includes six fully equipped examination rooms, one dedicated to pediatric care. It marks the company’s 25th clinic location in British Columbia.
Five of the six nurse practitioners hired for the Esquimalt location were recruited from the United States, including clinicians from Chicago, Massachusetts and California. Each is starting with a roster of about 40 patients, working toward an eventual capacity of roughly 1,000 patients per practitioner.
Nurse practitioners in B.C. operate with a scope of practice similar to that of a family physician, including conducting medical and physical assessments, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, diagnosing conditions, prescribing medications and referring patients to specialists when needed.
Patients will be drawn primarily from the provincial Health Care Connect Registry, the list used to match unattached patients with available primary care providers. Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said local residents will receive priority for clinic spots before openings are extended to registrants in the wider West Shore area.
The clinic’s arrival addresses a gap identified in the township’s Community Health Needs Assessment, which found roughly 7,000 Esquimalt residents currently lack a primary care provider.
A Zoning Covenant Made It Possible
The site came about through a zoning covenant negotiated between Esquimalt council and Lexi Development Group ahead of the Pacific House development, which required the building to include a medical clinic. Babak Nikbakhtan, managing director of Lexi Development Group, said the space was provided to Terra Nova rent-free for 10 years.
Terra Nova co-founder and CEO Dr. Julie Wilson said the company has held a commitment since 2015 to ensuring every British Columbian has access to primary care, and that the Esquimalt location advances that goal.
“Our model addresses the real challenges faced by outpatient healthcare in British Columbia today,” Wilson said, adding that the approach is designed to reduce administrative burden on clinicians so they can focus on patient care.
The new clinic is distinct from Esquimalt’s existing Urgent and Primary Care Centre, which opened in December 2021 and is intended for same-day, non-emergency care rather than ongoing primary care relationships.
Esquimalt council members and local officials attended Friday’s opening event alongside Terra Nova’s clinical team.
