For a while there, it looked like Dr. Pream Armogam would be the only full-time doctor in Port McNeill.
His fellow doctors kept leaving town. His private medical clinic was struggling to keep up, especially with COVID-19. For years, he asked the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) for help.
And when VIHA finally announced that it would open a new clinic in town, they told Dr. Armogam that he wasn’t welcome. He had six months to hand over all of his patient files.
That didn’t go over well.
His patients were mad. They wrote letters to the paper saying it was wrong to let him go. They wrote long posts on Facebook about how awesome he is. They even started a petition to keep him.
Congratulate yourselves on a job well done, citizens of Port McNeill. It looks like your efforts worked!
VIHA has bought the building that Dr. Armogam’s office is in. So that’s where they’re going to set up their new permanent clinic. And it looks like they’re working closely with Dr. Armogam to get the new clinic rolling.
Dr. Armogam and his team will have office space and administrative support in the new VIHA clinic. In a statement, they said he’ll continue to see his patients while they bring in more permanent doctors.
That should come as good news to people who have been seeing Dr. Armogam for 15 years. Good doctors are hard to find, especially ones who feel at home in a small town.
VIHA will be taking patients at its temporary clinic at 1584 Broughton Blvd until the end of August. To book an appointment, call 1-866-956-2007.
