{"id":577775,"date":"2026-04-02T17:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/577775\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T17:05:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T17:05:16","slug":"island-health-gets-biggest-influx-of-u-s-health-care-workers-in-b-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/577775\/","title":{"rendered":"Island Health gets biggest influx of U.S. health care workers in B.C."},"content":{"rendered":"

The provincial government says more than 500 U.S. health professionals have accepted jobs in B.C., with Island Health getting the largest share.<\/p>\n

In total, 504 health professionals \u2013 including doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, and allied health professionals \u2013\u00a0have accepted jobs across B.C. between March 2025 and February 2026, 141 of which landed jobs in Island Health.<\/p>\n

Fraser Health saw the second highest number of U.S. health professionals, with 110 coming to the area.<\/p>\n

As a result of incoming health professionals from the U.S., the provincial government says 223,000 people were matched to a primary care provider in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrimary care is how people get answers early, stay healthier, and avoid more serious issues down the road. That\u2019s why connecting more people to family doctors and nurse practitioners across B.C. has been a top priority,\u201d said Premier David Eby. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time, more doctors and health professionals from the United States are choosing B.C. because they can focus on patients in a strong public system that values their work. That means shorter waits and better care when you need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ PREVIOUS: Island Health has enough family doctors for everyone, so why are some without?<\/a><\/p>\n

People without a primary care provider are encouraged to register on the Health Connect Registry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The B.C. government says 77 per cent of British Columbians now have a primary care provider.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past year, we\u2019ve made strong progress \u2013 expanding training here at home while also bringing more health-care professionals to B.C. from the U.S. and around the world,\u201d said Josie Osborne, Minister of Health. <\/p>\n

\u201cMore and more people are getting connected to a primary care provider, and communities are seeing new doctors, nurses and allied health professionals delivering care in hospitals, clinics and community settings. There\u2019s more work ahead, but these results show we\u2019re moving in the right direction and they strengthen our resolve to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The province says the 504 health professionals that have come to B.C. include 109 doctors, of which 25 are family doctors, 315 nurses, 51 nurse practitioners, and 29 allied health professionals.<\/p>\n

In addition to those who have accepted jobs, the province says more than 2,900 U.S. workers have applied to work in B.C.<\/p>\n

U.S. health care workers bring their expertise to Vancouver Island<\/p>\n

Dr. Victoria Wilkins is a U.S. pediatrician who moved to Victoria in June 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a pediatrician and I specialize in Fragile X syndrome. In June 2025, my family and I moved from Utah to beautiful B.C.,\u201d Wilkins said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy pledge to myself when I came here is that I would do everything I could to help reduce the wait to see a pediatrician. I\u2019m fulfilling that commitment by working in multiple practices where additional support is needed and am working with the VICAN program at Queen Alexandra Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Christina Drostin is a U.S. family doctor who moved to Victoria in July 2025 and says she is \u201cgrateful and happy to be living and working here in Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a family doctor who moved from the U.S. to B.C. last July,\u201d Drostin said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I asked my partner where in Canada we should go, she immediately cried out \u2018Vancouver Island, of course!\u2019 At my new job at a local community health centre, I have the joy of establishing new patients to my panel as a family doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE FROM MARCH: Nearly 100 U.S. health workers have accepted jobs on Vancouver Island amid recruitment push<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The provincial government says more than 500 U.S. health professionals have accepted jobs in B.C., with Island Health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577776,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-577775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577775","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577775"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577775\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577775"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577775"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577775"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}