Recruitment, Attachment, and the Realities of Workforce Planning

A conversation with Rose Gidzinski covering Primary Care Network development, as it relates to the Division’s Patient Attachment Initiative and Recruitment and Retention programs. 

Recruitment and attachment are not abstract policy conversations. They determine whether patients can access care.

Rose Gidzinski leads some of the Vancouver Division of Family Practice’s most system-critical work — physician recruitment and retention, patient attachment, and coordination with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). The programs she oversees are specialized, high-impact, and in some cases unique in Vancouver.

“We’re unique in our specialized support and services, as it relates to patient attachment.”

That uniqueness matters. It’s why our health authority partners rely on the Division and why this work becomes even more important during periods of system pressure.

A Record Year for Recruitment

Last calendar year, the Division placed the highest number of providers “to ground” in its history, since our program’s inception almost 10 years ago.

Years of relationship-building with VCH, who this past year were instrumental in a robust recruitment strategy into the US, resulted in an increased interest in our community.   Coordination with VCH allowed the Division to extend its reach which translated into measurable results and our program recruiting more providers than ever before.

That success was not accidental. It reflects aligned incentives, active recruitment efforts, and a clear operational focus.

Incentives Worked and Revealed Gaps

Although not permanent, we did see that incentive structures made a measurable difference in attracting new physicians to community-based family practice.

The Longitudinal Family Physician (LFP) model and New-to-Practice (NTP) incentives drove strong uptake and helped produce last year’s record placements.

Short-term financial levers helped bring physicians into family practice roles. Long-term stability requires structures that encourage sustained community commitment, and that is something the Vancouver Division is advocating for.

The Current Reality: Capacity and Constraints

The Vancouver Division is continuing to support recruitment despite some shifting conditions. Incentives have been scaled back for the time being, as provincial modelling now indicates capacity in certain areas, meaning no additional New-to-Practice contracts are being issued at this time.

The Vancouver Division, however, does see value in restarting the program. Certain areas may have capacity according to government numbers, but what Rose is seeing day-to-day indicates there is still more room for growth.  

Without NTP incentives, recruitment shifts toward LFP-only pathways, which might narrow options in some communities.  

At the same time, demand for nurse practitioners remains high. Clinics across Vancouver continue to express strong interest in expanding NP capacity — this could be a good opportunity for expanding programming and increasing options for patients.

The Patient Attachment Initiative and Health Connect Registry

Our recruitment efforts have continued to support our capacity to attach more patients through our Patient Attachment Initiative (PAI) and Health Connect Registry programs.  

The program provides a concierge service to our providers for the more complex patients.  We receive these referrals from various partners in the community and more predominantly VCH acute and secondary tertiary levels such as the UPCC’s and CHC’s. Again this partnership helps in attaching these patients to a primary care provider in the hopes at alleviating any further decompensation and return visits to the acute setting.  

The Vancouver Division participates in the Health Connect Registry (HCR) program which assists new to practice providers in building a balanced panel to meet their desired attachment targets.

Through the Ministry’s PAS system, our members identify additional capacity for attachment and we provide them with patients who reside in and around their clinics looking to be attached.  Patients are drawn from the Health Connect Registry who have pre-registered and identified as looking for a provider.

Why the Division’s Role Is Critical

In this landscape, attachment and recruitment work are foundational.

The Vancouver Division bridges clinic needs, health authority recruitment, provincial incentive structures, and local community placement under one operational umbrella.

Strong collaboration with VCH continues to amplify recruitment efforts. Coordination with FPSC and Doctors of BC ensures focus rather than duplication. The Division operates at the intersection of policy and practice — translating funding models and provincial directives into real provider placements.

When incentives align, recruitment moves.

When partnerships are strong, impact multiplies.

Looking Forward: Building on What Works

Last year demonstrated what is possible when alignment exists.

With targeted incentives, trusted partnerships, and focused operational leadership, the Division placed more providers than ever before. That translated directly into expanded primary care access in Vancouver.

The next phase of workforce planning must build on those lessons:

• Incentives that support long-term community stability
• Accurate capacity modelling grounded in operational reality
• Continued collaboration between Divisions, health authorities, and provincial partners
• Sustained focus on attachment as a core access strategy

The Vancouver Division has shown that it can deliver results in recruitment and retention, when efforts are combined in support of other programming areas in the province..

As the system evolves, the Division will continue to focus on what works — strong partnerships, practical solutions, and getting providers into the communities that need them most.

The work continues — and it matters.