As our 2025/26 fundraising campaign winds down, we are highlighting a critical, but often overlooked component of local healthcare: the role of family physicians in hospital care.
The Saanich Peninsula Hospital (SPH) relies on family physicians to provide inpatient care. Today, most family physicians no longer follow their patients into hospital, and even fewer provide care to patients without a primary care provider.
Shoreline Medical Society is one of only two clinics whose physicians consistently provide this essential inpatient service at SPH, known as Doctor of the Day.
“Supporting the long-term sustainability of our hospital was one of the reasons Shoreline was founded,” said Dr. Andrea Lewis, one of our founding physicians and Board Chair. “That commitment continues today, but it requires resources and coordination beyond what typical primary care clinics are set up to provide.”
In addition to providing more than one-third of Doctor of the Day coverage at SPH, Shoreline physicians:
- Provide medical leadership in hospital
- Support emergency department flow through rapid assessments
- Provide surgical assists that make local surgeries possible
- Deliver compassionate palliative care
When Shoreline physicians are caring for patients in hospital, clinic care must continue uninterrupted. Coordinating care across both settings requires additional planning, flexibility, funding, and physician recruitment, one of the reasons few clinics are able to sustain this model.
For many years, the Saanich Peninsula Hospital & Healthcare Foundation helped offset some of the associated costs, including the recruitment of locum physicians (doctors who provide temporary coverage). As of April 1, 2026, that funding is no longer in place, creating a significant funding gap of up to $150,000 per year, a gap that may impact our ability to support hospital care over time.
“This is about ensuring our community continues to have strong primary care and a resilient hospital system,” said Dr. Sienna Bourdon, Medical Director of Shoreline’s Brentwood Bay Clinic and President of the SPH Medical Staff Association.
Shoreline is committed to continuing this work in support of our patients, the hospital, and the broader community, but community support is now needed to help close this funding gap.
Donations can be made online at shorelinemedical.ca/donate, in person at our clinics, by phone, or by connecting with our team to make other arrangements. Donors who wish to support physician care at Saanich Peninsula Hospital may direct their gift to Shoreline towards physician recruitment and retention. All donations receive a tax receipt.
