Urban Locum Program

Urban Locum Program – Greater Victoria Pilot

The Urban Locum Program (ULP) pilot in Greater Victoria’s primary care networks aims to offer up to 10 days of coverage per year, for eligible family doctors and a career pathway for new physicians into longitudinal care. The program began in the fall of 2022, and is intended to help address challenges facing family doctors including burnout, finding locum coverage to maintain continuity of care during leaves, mounting financial pressures from business costs, and 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 practice coverage will be arranged through the program
Over time, a pool of potential recruits who have experienced your clinic and community

For Locums

Program pays the locum a daily rate of $1286.81 per 8-hour day of service (compare with LFP)
Program pays the locum a daily rate of $1386.81 from day one once you complete 60 days of service (paid retroactively in a $6000.00 bonus)
Program pays eligible host physician overhead
Our flexible contract allows you to do other work with other forms of payment at the same time as our contract.
Peer Coaching & Support program
A new career pathway for family medicine residents considering longitudinal practice
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
Our program allows you 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
Scheduling app where you can easily view and pick up available work
Hear first hand from a fellow locum physician what working with The ULP can be like. Check out this quick video.

Piloting for BC

The locum coverage pilot runs from October 1, 2022, to March 31, 2026. It is being delivered in the Victoria and South Island primary care networks (PCNs), with the Victoria Division taking on the administration and the Family Practice Services Committee (FPSC) providing oversight. Results of continuous program evaluation will inform conversations with the Ministry about provincial spread in a timely way after the pilot. The Victoria and South Island area was selected for the pilot due to its 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 (PCNs) in Greater Victoria (Victoria, Westshore, or Saanich Peninsula) and be 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.

Hear first hand from a fellow locum physician what working with The ULP can be like. Check out this quick video.

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.

For more ULP resources please visit the ULP resource page here.

Questions? Please contact Becky Litt at [email protected] [email protected]

Urban Locum Program

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The Victoria Division of Family Practice respectfully acknowledges that our office is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples, known today as the Xʷsepsəm and Songhees Nations. We are grateful to be working on these lands.

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