Another West Shore doctor is leaving the area, this time from the Westshore Community Health Centre.
Dr. Sylvie Tellier is leaving her part-time practice at the Colwood clinic effective Nov. 1 and patients who saw the family doctor will now be without a doctor.
“We are sad to lose her as she is an excellent physician and valuable member of our team, but respect that this is the right decision for her at this time. We are diligently working at recruiting a new physician to join our team, and we wish Dr. Tellier well with wherever her career takes her next,” Liz Nelson, executive director of the Pacific Centre Family Services Association, wrote in an email.
The centre opened in June last year in the same building as Pacific Centre Family Services Association building on Goldstream Avenue and is part of the Western Communities Primary Care Network.
At the time of opening, the centre was staffed by 17.2 full-time equivalent (FTE) health-care workers, including family doctors, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, a social worker and community health workers. The plan then was to gradually increase to 19 FTE health-care providers.
“We understand that this news may be surprising and worrying for many of you given the current state of primary care in our community. We are unfortunately not able to continue your care at the Centre. Please know that we are by no means implying that you do not have important health-care needs,” the letter read.
The letter said the centre would continue to store patients’ medical records and would transfer them to another physician if asked.
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