B.C.’s older clinic funding model ending in 2026 but not all doctors agree

The last remaining clinics in B.C. that are using an older funding model will be moving to a new one in the new year. The Ministry of Health says it has been reviewing how health-care providers in clinics are paid and determined to move all clinics to the Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) payment model and away from the population-based funding compensation model. The LFP payment model was introduced two years ago. The ministry says population-based funding has extremely high administrative requirements and costs, with providers spending more time filling out forms and less time on patient care. The LFP payment model compensates family physicians for spending extra time with patients, according to the ministry, especially those with complex needs, such as patients with mental health conditions and seniors. Dr. Brenda Hardie, who is a family doctor at Vancouver Family Practice, where the population-based funding model is still used, does not agree. “Basically, the funding for primary care for patients follows the patients and their needs and so we’re paid on the panel of patients and their complexity, rather than being paid based on a service,” she explained about the current funding model. Get weekly health news Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy . Hardie said it allows doctors to be active and plan for patients, rather than requiring patients to undergo multiple services on multiple visits. The Vancouver Family Practice will be one of eight across B.C. moving to the LFP payment model, which will switch over at the end of March 2026. “My understanding is there’s 90,000 patients across these eight clinics,” Hardie said. “All of those funding will be ended in three months’ time and so there will no longer be any version of capitation.” She added that she finds that shocking as the population-based funding is the recommended model from the College of Family Physicians of Canada. “So it’s a little shocking to see the government wipe out an entire funding model without any obvious discussions,” Hardie said. She said they have received no data from the government about why it is necessary to move all clinics to the same funding model. Mission’s Urgent and Primary Care Clinic is also one of the facilities transitioning to the new funding model. Conservative MLA for Abbotsford-Mission Reann Gasper said this move creates more instability in the province’s health care. “It’s the last thing we want to hear in the Christmas season, that contracts are being cut,” Gasper said. “It means that thousands of residents are without primary care, health care, access to doctors, which is really important to a community, to families, to seniors, to people facing mental health. “It is really unfortunate to get this news at this time.” However, in a statement, the Ministry of Health said that they “are confident the LFP model will fairly compensate health-care providers and support current service models that include team-based care.”

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