The $8-million, six-storey building at 2101 Sitka Court will also contain suites for health-care professionals.
Construction is set to begin on an $8-million, six-storey building that will house a new Urgent and Primary Care Centre in Sooke, along with suites for health-care professionals.
Sooke Mayor Maja Tait said a building permit has been issued for the development, which is expected to open in 2028 in the middle of town at 2101 Sitka Court, formerly 6651 Wadams Way.
Clearing of brush, bramble and alder trees on the undeveloped parcel of land is expected to begin in coming weeks.
The Health Ministry said work on the building will begin before the end of the year.
The UPCC will be on one floor of the complex — in a space that’s about 5,000 square feet — and will be owned and operated by Island Health.
The building will also include market and below-market residential rental housing that Tait said is much needed in the region, and will offer a dedicated residential floor for health-care providers, who will be able to “take the elevator to work.”
The complex is being developed by not-for-profit Catalyst Community Developments on land provided by the District of Sooke.
This week’s announcement is the culmination of a 10-year effort that began with the idea of a community health centre with modern diagnostics in the district, home to about 17,000 people.
Tait said the idea was proposed in about 2016 and former premier John Horgan, then MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca, gave it the province’s approval in March 2023 as one of his last acts in office.
With then-health minister Adrian Dix, they held a news conference on the empty site at what was then 6671 Wadams Way.
After the 2024 provincial election, the district issued a request for proposals for a builder, with the goal of opening in 2025.
Tait said the hope was to have shovels in the ground within a year — “and then we waited.”
That wait ended Monday when officials took those ceremonial shovel photos.
Tait said the development will give residents access to urgent care closer to home and take pressure for walk-in care off the primary care clinic in town, West Coast Family Medical Clinic, while providing rental homes for people and families.
She said district staff have been pulling out “all the stops” to get the development rolling.
“So now the signs are in the ground [that] the UPPC is coming,” said Tait. “It wasn’t the original vision, but we need space for doctors, and we need health care to attach patients to a clinic, so that’s great … that is a win for us.”
The province has opened 48 UPCCs, including 12 on Vancouver Island, Health Minister Ravi Kahlon said Monday, prior to the snap election being called.
The province said the UPCC will have a team including doctors, nurses and other health professionals, though other UPCCs have promised the same in the past and have not been able to find a full complement of health professionals.
NDP Leader David Eby promised Wednesday to beef up efforts to recruit health-care professionals from the U.S. if the party is re-elected.
As a result of the province’s recruitment campaign so far, it says more than 700 U.S. health-care providers have accepted jobs in B.C., including 171 physicians, 445 nurses, 78 nurse practitioners and 44 other health professionals.
To sign up to be matched with a family doctor or nurse practitioner on the Health Connect Registry, visit:
https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-connect-registry