As of September 1, 2025, the Urgent Pediatric Assessment Clinic (UPAC) at Victoria General Hospital (VGH) will close down for an unspecified amount of time.
The clinic was set up in 2019 to rapidly match children with an appropriate specialist and reduce wait times, but the clinic’s pediatricians were facing burnout and are now renegotiating a contract with Island Health.
“Why is it that under this government we always arrive at another closure or interruption of service? In this case, contract negotiations should have happened before any kind of service cancellation. But now, referrals to the UPAC already ended as of August 15th,” said Dr. Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and Shadow Minister for Health.
“The lack of forethought, planning, and accountability by the health authority is again evident. Why wasn’t a contract ready? Who is accountable for this?”
“Sick children can deteriorate quickly, and in pediatric medicine, appropriate diagnosis must be done in a timely manner. That’s why this clinic at VGH opened in the first place. But now that this clinic will be closing indefinitely, an already-overburdened ER physician will have to triage and diagnose,” said Kindy.
“And of course, the lack of primary care access in this province adds to the load of patients in both pediatric departments and the ER.”
The closure of Victoria’s Urgent Pediatric Assessment Clinic comes right after Dr. Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island fully reopened its pediatric unit. At Kelowna General, pediatric services had been disrupted since May 2025.
“BC health authorities are always putting out fires. They need to stop being reactive and start planning ahead,” said Kindy.
“Healthcare access in British Columbia continues to be compromised. And now, the children and parents of the South Island and beyond will face hindered access to timely, specialized pediatric care.”
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