
Kelowna had the third longest wait times at walk-in clinics across British Columbia in 2023, according to new data released by Canadian tech company Medimap.
The recent report indicates that British Columbians face the longest wait times in the country, starting in North Vancouver where the average wait time was 187 minutes, followed by Victoria at 107 minutes. Kelowna took the third spot with an average wait time of 104 minutes.
Elsewhere across the province, British Columbians had to wait an average of 93 minutes to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic in 2023, which is 14 minutes longer than in 2022, and 25 minutes longer than the national average of 68 minutes.
“B.C. has an unusual problem on its hands - recent changes to the physician payment model have resulted in some walk-in clinics actually closing, exacerbating the very problem the change was trying to address,” said Thomas Jankowski, CEO of Medimap.
“So while some people are getting better, more encompassing care if they get rostered at a medical clinic, those without one sometimes end up suffering more.”
The situation in Vernon is even worse, since the last walk-in clinic there closed in November of 2023.
The average wait time in Vancouver decreased by 9 minutes to 62 minutes in 2023, while the surrounding cities of Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Burnaby were among the cities in B.C. with the shortest wait times.
Top 4 B.C. cities with longest average wait times:
North Vancouver
- 187 minutes (2023)
- 160 minutes (2022)
Victoria
- 107 minutes (2023)
- 137 minutes (2022)
Kelowna
- 104 minutes (2023)
- N/A (2022)
Richmond
- 96 minutes (2023)
- 31 minutes (2022)
Top 4 B.C. cities with shortest average wait times
Chilliwack
- 44 minutes (2023)
- 32 minutes (2022)
Abbotsford
- 55 minutes (2023)
- 36 minutes (2022)
Vancouver
- 62 minutes (2023)
- 71 minutes (2022)
Burnaby
- 82 minutes (2023)
- 65 minutes (2022)
By comparison, Manitoba and Ontario had the shortest average wait times in 2023 with patients waiting 45 minutes and 59 minutes, respectively. Patients in Alberta had to wait an average of 66 minutes to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic last year.
Medimap is a Canadian tech company that matches patients with walk-in clinics, pharmacists and health professionals.
