After registered nurse Tami Bonner spent almost 28 years in private practice at the Yorston Medical Clinic in Williams Lake, she watched clients shed tears as the clinic closed.
“It was just so sad,” she said of watching people react to the clinic’s closure and the loss of their family physician.
After so long in private practice, Bonner didn’t want to face applying for a job at Interior Health with no seniority, or having to do shift work, but she wasn’t ready to retire either, despite working for 30 years as a nurse. Traditionally, family practice physician offices have operated as independent businesses, billing the Medical Services Plan for the services they provide, but maintaining the building and other costs as part of their business overhead. Bonner could not open a family practice, but she did have skills which could help people who relied on the clinic.
So through conversations with coworkers and clients, she thought there might be an option to support people doing many of the things she did at the clinic privately while also taking some of the pressure off of the emergency department. The difference would be she would have to charge clients directly.
Bonner has since taken a chance and opened the doors of a private nursing option in Williams Lake.
“It’s a little scary,” she admits, of going out on her own opening her own office, called The Nurse’s Edge.
Her business is aimed at relieving the stress for clients who have to get regular injections or need simple treatments like staple or stiches removal, but who don’t have a family physician and are therefore unable to schedule in-person appointments.
Rather than waiting in an emergency room lineup for hours, or scheduling far-out pharmacists appointments, patients would be able to walk in or make an appointment and have basic services taken care of.
While pharmacists are able to provide some shots, Bonner said they are also really busy as well now with their increased workloads.
A report released this week from the Office of the Seniors Advocate in B.C. said 17 per cent of rural seniors do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, compared to 13 per cent of urban seniors. In Williams Lake, Interior Health has reported there are over 4,500 people in the Williams Lake area on the list looking for a family physician and some people may not have put their names on the list yet.
Bonner said she can administer injections prescribed by a physician, however, she cannot administer allergy shots because those require a physician to be present. Examples of such injections would be vitamin B12 shots or testosterone shots.
She is also able to provide ear syringing, with the support of Dr. Fedor, who would have to authorize those. Other services could include suture and staple removal or liquid nitrogen to remove warts.
She had to get her name approved through the B.C. College of Nurses and Midwives, but other than this hurdle, she said the business set up was fairly straightforward and she operates outside of the Medical Services Plan. Her prices range from $25 to $50 per visit and her office will be open Tuesday through Thursday 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
While it has been slow since she opened her doors on Feb. 13, 2024, Bonner said maybe this will be a good thing, given she has to take a week off starting on Feb. 26 to have a knee surgically scoped, and plans to reopen on March 5.
“It’s an adventure, we’ll see what happens,” she said.
With file from Jane Skrypnek.
