The Urban Locum Program (ULP) pilot offers up to 10 days of locum coverage per year for eligible family doctors, as well as a career pathway into longitudinal care for new physicians. Since the fall of 2022, the program has helped address challenges facing family doctors including:

• Burnout
• Finding locum coverage to maintain continuity of care during leaves
• Mounting financial pressures from business costs
• The need to recruit and retain family doctors in community longitudinal practice

Benefits For Host Family Physicians

• Program pays eligible host physician overhead payments of $404.76 per 8-hour day of service while away so physicians don’t have to pay to take a break
• Coverage for patients for up to 10 days per year (based on locum availability), which can be taken consecutively or separately
• Support for physician health and wellness
• Relief from administrative burden as the program arranges practice coverage
• Over time, a pool of potential recruits who have experienced your clinic and community

Benefits for Locums

• Program pays the locum a daily rate of $1175.80 per 8-hour day of service
• Program pays the locum a daily rate of $1275.80 from day one once you complete 60 days of service (paid retroactively in a $6000.00 bonus)
• A new career pathway for family medicine residents considering longitudinal practice
• Mentorship supports for new-to-practice physicians or those new to the area
• A new support for end-of-career physicians who want to work a few more years but don’t want to carry their own panels
• An option for hospitalists and other family medicine-trained physicians working in focused practice who are looking to maintain their longitudinal experience
• A flexible contract to work last-minute or short-term
• Administrative support to coordinate placements with physicians/clinics and for scheduling
• Experience with different practice types and communities
• Flexibility to coordinate rural placements with urban ones

Piloting for BC

The Urban Locum Program pilot runs from October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2025, in the Victoria and South Island primary care networks. Pilot administration is by the Victoria Division and oversight is provided by the Family Practice Services Committee. Results of continuous evaluation of the program will inform conversations with the Ministry about timely provincial spread after the pilot. The Victoria and South Island areas were selected for the pilot due to there extremely high rate of patients without a longitudinal family physician (30–40%).

The initiative builds on similar efforts by the Divisions of Family Practice and ideas brought forward from both the provincial and regional Recruitment & Retention Committees. It complements the existing Rural General Practitioner Locum Program and traditional locum opportunities.

Host Family Physician Eligibility

To participate in the pilot, host family physicians must be:

• Part of one of the primary care networks in Greater Victoria (Victoria, Western Communities, or Saanich Peninsula)
• Working a minimum of 0.5 FTE providing clinic-based, longitudinal care to a panel of patients. The above criteria were agreed upon to initially limit the pilot scope and create manageable parameters while we build a pool of locums, and for the purpose of testing the concept and evaluating outcomes. In the future, and with successful evaluation results, the goal is to expand the program across the province and to a wider demographic of family physicians. If there is a surplus of locums during the initial pilot phase, criteria for family physicians will be expanded at that time.

How to Apply

We are currently accepting applications by locums and by host physicians seeking coverage. Please read the FAQs prior to completing the application.

Locums

Please complete the locum application form. Once this is completed, we will be in touch to discuss the specific terms of your contract. There will be an opportunity to fully understand all the aspects of the contract prior to signing. After signing the contract, you will be invited to submit your availability for the scheduling/matching process with host physicians.

View an infographic of what to expect during the locum process here.

Family Physicians Seeking Coverage (hosts):

Please complete the host application form and sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which highlights host physician rules and responsibilities. After returning your application and signing the MOU, host applicants will be invited to submit their desired days off for matching with locum physicians.

View an infographic of what to expect during the host process here.

Urban Locum Program Resources

The Victoria Division, who has administrative oversight of the Urban Locum Program, has an excellent catalogue of resources available here.