Urgent care for Westside?

Photo: Alanna Kelly - File Photo

Kelowna West MLA Ben Stewart feels confident urgent care facilities will come to West Kelowna soon.

Stewart said be thinks an announcement could come from Health Minister Adrian Dix sometime in early 2019.

"I'm anxious to hear we are going to get something, and I think even the health minister is more anxious to get it up and running," Stewart said prior to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon featuring the three Central Okanagan MLAs.

Access to more medical services in West Kelowna has been a top priority since it became its own municipality 11 years ago.

In 2007, Interior Health purchased a 2.7-hectare piece of land for such a facility on Elliott Road, adjacent to Brown and Bering roads.

However, any facility, or services won't be the standalone emergency room facility envisioned years ago.

"He's told me directly there is going to be an urgent care centre that is going to be added into the Central Okanagan," said Stewart.

"It's not bricks and mortar ... this is not like the previous iteration of the health centre on Bering Road, at least not at the present time. It would be services that would move into existing buildings, and provide comprehensive services in downtown Kelowna as well as the Westside."

Stewart says Dix has committed to coming to the Central Okanagan to meet with municipal leaders about urgent care.

The government has promised 10 such centres will open across the province. Five have already opened, including one in Kamloops.