The Colwood Clinic 鈥� developed and owned by the Victoria suburb of Colwood 鈥� is a first-of-its-kind health-care model that brings in doctors as city employees. 

Subject of national ttention, when first announced, it鈥檚 a move designed to offer doctors better work-life balance, attract more physicians to the community, and give residents access to the health care they desperately need. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e not expecting them to work more than 40 hours a week,鈥� said Colwood Mayor Doug Kobayashi. 

鈥淭hey spend their eight hours a day doctoring and not doing overhead administrative functions. That鈥檚 what the attraction is.鈥� 

So far, things at the new clinic are going well 鈥� despite growing pains, including an overwhelming amount of interest from doctors. 

鈥淲e鈥檝e had over 100 doctors give us an expression of interest. That鈥檚 a lesson learned, we just didn鈥檛 have the capacity to follow up on all of them at one time.鈥� 

Colwood is determined not to pull doctors from neighbouring municipalities. 

The recruitment strategy has largely focused outside of Canada, with preliminary job offers extended to two physicians who Kobayashi hopes will arrive by November. 

Presently, the clinic has just one doctor on staff: Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan, who relocated from London, Ont. to help pioneer the model. 

鈥淲e are so excited to be here in this community. I feel we鈥檝e received such a warm welcome. It鈥檚 made all the little bumps along the way totally worth it,鈥� said Stiller-Moldovan, who has faced her share of challenges. 

鈥淎nytime somebody starts a new business from the ground up, you're always going to encounter difficulties. Coming in, you see things like not having trash cans and you鈥檙e like, 鈥極K, so what can we use as a trash can instead?鈥欌�� 

Aside from finding new ways to deal with garbage, working with patients who haven鈥檛 had access to a doctor in years has been a unique challenge. 

鈥淭he thing I've come to realize is, wow 鈥� there are a lot of things we could have been helping with, and people have kind of been unnecessarily suffering,鈥� she said. 

So far, the response from patients 鈥� there are 500 currently on her roster, which she aims to grow to 1,250 鈥� has been warm. And while Stiller-Moldovan is the only physician working at the clinic for now, she鈥檚 never lonely. She鈥檚 built a network with co-workers and neighbours at the pharmacy next door. 

鈥淔rom a medical perspective, yes, I鈥檓 really looking forward to having more physicians here. But it鈥檚 been kind of neat being on the ground level and actually helping create policy,鈥� she said. 

Stiller-Moldovan said patients have been very excited about the clinic and recognize what a unique institution it is, but what they may not realize is how beneficial it is for doctors and staff as well. 

鈥淚鈥檓 not sure they understood what doctors didn't have before. I think it鈥檚 an eye-opener for a lot of people who say, 鈥楽orry, you didn't have maternity leave? You didn鈥檛 have sick leave?鈥欌�� said Stiller-Moldovan, explaining that many doctors work while battling illnesses of their own, because at the end of the day, they鈥檙e not just physicians 鈥� they鈥檙e also small business owners. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 been really relieving. I鈥檓 not going home and making sure this much of my paycheque is going into taxes or retirement.鈥� 

Since arriving in B.C., Stiller-Moldovan has been enjoying the outdoors and the view of the Olympic Mountains on her morning commute. But there have also been some surprises. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 realize there were earthquakes here 鈥� and within a short period of time, I think there were like four earthquakes,鈥� she says with a laugh. 

The clinic model has proven so attractive that other municipalities are already taking notes. Representatives from several local governments have begun visiting Colwood to learn more. 

But not everyone is on board. 

鈥淭here are lots of rumours out there. People say, 鈥業鈥檝e heard a rumour they鈥檙e in financial trouble.鈥� But no, we鈥檙e not,鈥� said Kobayashi. 鈥淲e鈥檙e working towards our business plan 鈥� right now, we鈥檙e right on track.鈥� 

Between general push-back and the slow process of opening a clinic, Kobayashi said it can feel like some don鈥檛 want the project to succeed. 

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 think everyone would just embrace this and think it鈥檚 a great thing. Within the health-care side 鈥� whether it be the province or Island Health or whatever 鈥� it is change. It means change.鈥� 

The goal is to bring in eight doctors over two years and provide new access to health care for Colwood residents. With two more physicians nearing deals to join the clinic this year, Kobayashi said things are on track. 

鈥淭he great thing about us doing this right now is that we鈥檝e learned the pains 鈥� believe me,鈥� he said. 

鈥淗ave we resolved most of them? Yes, absolutely. Are we getting better? Yes, we are.鈥�