Family Practitioner/General Practitioner

Health Match BC; Port Hardy; On-site; CAD 302,000 - 378,000; Full time

Job summary

Health Match BC is partnering with First Nations communities on Northern Vancouver Island to recruit a Family Physician for a culturally-safe, team-based primary care setting. The role includes travel to multiple sites to deliver wrap-around care that integrates Western and Traditional Wellness approaches.

The Family Physician will manage a patient panel, travel as needed, and work under a clinical service contract with remuneration reflecting a 0.2–1.0 FTE scope; rural incentives may apply.

Qualifications

• Active CPSBC license in good standing (or eligible).
• Cultural Safety & Humility training completed or willingness to undertake.
• Experience with First Nations communities preferred.
• Valid driver’s license and willingness to travel across Northern Vancouver Island.

Responsibilities

• Provide primary care in a team-based, culturally-safe model.
• Collaborate with nurses, social workers, pharmacists and therapists to deliver wrap-around care.
• Travel to different sites to offer care as required by service contracts.
• Build and manage a patient panel with a goal of ~650 per FTE by year 3, and incorporate Western and Traditional Wellness approaches.

Skills

Cultural Safety training

Willingness to travel

Education

MD/DO and CPSBC eligibility

Job description

About Us

The First Nations Primary Care Initiative (FNPCI) is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, First Nations Health Authority and Indigenous communities throughout the Province with a purpose to increase primary care access and attachment to primary care clinicians, with a focus on collaborative, team-based, culturally-safe care.

Role and Facility Information

About Us

The First Nations Primary Care Initiative (FNPCI) is a partnership between the Ministry of Health, First Nations Health Authority and Indigenous communities throughout the Province with a purpose to increase primary care access and attachment to primary care clinicians, with a focus on collaborative, team-based, culturally-safe care.

All FNPCI’s in British Columbia are First Nations-Led. The Pata'yi FNPCI, located on North Vancouver Island is society operated (The North Vancouver Island Primary Care Initiative Health Society) and governed through a Board of Directors from each of the ten Kwakwaka’wakw Nations the FNPCI serves: Kwakiutl, Mamalilikulla First Nation, Dzawada’enuxw First Nation, Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation, Gwawaenuk Tribe, Gwa’sala- ‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations, T'łatłasik'wa̱la’la First Nation, Quatsino First Nation, and Da’naxda’xw First Nation.

The First Nations Nations Health Authority is proud to support the Kwakwaka’wakw FNPCI and its Society with recruitment and contracting of Medical Staff. The first of its kind in Canada, FNHA works as a health-and-wellness partner with BC First Nations to support self-determination and decision-making to improve health outcomes. FNHA has been named one of BC's Top Employers for 2025. Learn more about why we were selected here https://reviews.canadastop100.com/top-employer-first-nations-health-authority

TITLE: Family Physician - Successful applicants may eligible for a 0.2 FTE medical lead

CONTRACT: Contract from 0.2 FTE up to a 1.0 FTE-typically 1680 hours a year per FTE

LOCATION: Kwakwaka’wakw Communities on Northern Vancouver Island

Physician Master Agreement Full Scope range placement of $302,113 - $377,641 subject to whether scope of services includes facility-based coverage. Additional Rural Retention Program Premium of 22.26%. Compensation is scaled to Full Time Equivalent. Additional incentives may apply subject to eligibility. Family Physicians are not required to contribute to overhead and typically a renewable contract will be negotiated.

Why Work At The Pata'yi Primary Care Centre

The Pata'yi FNPCI is grounded in the following Kwakwaka’wakw values:

• Gilakas’la: Welcome and gratitude
• Ga’walap̓a: To help one another
• Namwayut: We are all one
• Sanala: Holistic living
• Maya’xala: Respect
• Maya’xalap̓a: Respect one another.

We are committed to weaving traditional ways of knowing with a focus on wholistic wellness built on a culturally-safe and two-eyed seeing approach to healthcare. We believe in work-life balance and creating an environment where personal and professional growth are supported and encouraged.

About The Role

Step into a collaborative team where your expertise as a Family Physician is not just needed but celebrated. You'll join a vibrant group of healthcare professionals including Advanced Scope Registered Nurses, Social Workers, Pharmacist, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Mental Health Clinicians, Medical Office Assistants and Traditional Healers. Through a foundational collaborative-care model, our team seeks to provide seamless and culturally-safe wrap-around care.

The Family Physician will be the most responsible provider for a patient panel and is expected to collaborate in team-based care for patients and support the practice of Western and Traditional Wellness approaches to patient health. A minimum panel size is typically expected to reach 650 per 1.0 FTE by year 3 and will be confirmed in the clinical service contract. The Family Physician will be expected to travel on a pre-arranged schedule to different sites to be available for appointments within the community in keeping with the First Nations value of services closer to home.

The Family Physician (FP) will be responsible for practicing with cultural humility, to provide primary care in a team-based environment that recognizes the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the client (and family) to provide whole person care, in compliance with policies and procedures of acceptable BC health and wellness regulations and standards.

About You

• You are passionate about supporting First Nations individuals and families on their health and wellness journeys;
• You have an active practicing license in good standing with the College of Physicians of BC (CPSBC);
• You have training in Cultural Safety & Humility or are willing to take this training;
• Ideally you have experience working with First Nations people and communities and providing culturally safe care.
• Current valid driving license and willingness to travel to sites primarily throughout the Northern Vancouver Island region

WHY LIVE ON NORTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND

North Vancouver Island is a vast and rugged wilderness ranging from the Broughton Island Archipelago to old growth rainforests in Cape Scott Provincial Park. We are a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts with world-class fishing, hiking, skiing and sea-kayaking. There are three larger communities: Port Hardy, Port McNeill and Port Alice that are adjacent to the culturally-vibrant First Nations communities of Gwa’sala-‘Nakwada’xw, Kwakiutl, Quatsino and ‘Namgis each of which has a Health Centre where our team provides care. We also provide care in the remote communities of Dzawada’enuxw First Nation, Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis First Nation that are only accessible by boat or air. Finally, we have clinic-space partnerships with community-based organizations: North Island Building Blocks, Foundry, Sacred Wolf Friendship Centre and FNHA Midwifery Clinic.

ANTICIPATED HIRE DATE: As soon as possible.

The First Nations Health Authority is a first of its kind in Canada and is committed to respecting diversity within our workforce; preference will be given to individuals who identify as First Nations, Inuit, or Métis.

For information about Cultural Safety and Humility visit (https://www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/cultural-safety-and-humility) and for information about Land Acknowledgements visit (https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/FNHA-Territory-Acknowledgements-Information-Booklet.pdf)

Compensation

Compensation Type Clinical Service Contract Estimated Remuneration Varies- see above Physician Overhead n/a

Benefits and Incentives

May be eligible for additional remuneration in accordance with the Rural Subsidiary Agreement (RSA) including: Retention Premium 22.26% Relocation Funding Available $varies Recruitment Incentive $as eligible