Press Release - December 12, 2025
Family Doctors For Saanich Launch Registration Drive for Health Connect Registry
Saanich, BC – Today, December 12, Universal Health Coverage Day, a group of Saanich residents gathered at Rutledge Park to launch Family Doctors for Saanich, a new grassroots campaign working to improve access to family doctors and nurse practitioners in the District of Saanich. The volunteer-led initiative aims to help more residents get attached to primary care providers and encourage participation in local efforts to bring additional doctors to the region.
Universal Health Coverage Day (December 12), is a global day of action dedicated to promoting strong and equitable health systems. It highlights the importance of ensuring that all people have access to the health services they need, when and where they need them. Around the world, communities use this day to call for practical steps toward universal access to primary care, prevention, treatment, and support. By launching today, Family Doctors for Saanich is joining a wider movement that recognizes primary care as the foundation of a healthy community.
Family Doctors for Saanich is a grassroots and volunteer driven campaign. In the coming months, participants will be tabling at community events, canvassing neighbourhoods, and talking with friends and neighbours to raise awareness of the Health Connect Registry and the importance of registering. Volunteers are also working to support broader efforts to bring more primary care capacity to the region, including fundraising initiatives led by local partners and allies.
Call to Action
The campaign is encouraging Saanich residents to take four simple steps to help strengthen access to healthcare in the community:
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Sign up for the Health Connect Registry if you do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner and are not already signed up.
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Talk to your friends and neighbours and encourage them to register if they are unattached and not currently sign up.
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Volunteer with Family Doctors for Saanich by helping with canvassing, tabling, communications, or community outreach.
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Donate to the South Island Primary Care Society to support clinic expansion and efforts to bring new family doctors to the region.
Health Registry Connect Sign Up Drive Launched
With its registration drive, Family Doctors for Saanich is encouraging anyone who does not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and who is not already on the list, to sign up with the Health Connect Registry. This is the provincial system used to help match patients with available primary care providers in their community. Signing up only takes a few minutes, and doing so helps both individuals and the health system as a whole.
In Saanich, thousands of residents are still searching for a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Numbers from the Ministry of Health, provided to our campaign by MLA Diana Gibson’s office, for the Saanich Peninsula and Oak Bay (covering a total population of ~133,929), show the following:
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Currently attached to a provider: 98,301
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Seeking attachment (registered on the HCR): 19,038
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Unattached and not registered on HCR: 22,886
According to the Saanich Peninsula Area Profile from Island Health (using 2022-2023 numbers), at least 19.1% of people living in the Saanich Peninsula are not attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. The provincial government recently announced that a record-breaking 250,000 people getting attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner in 2024.
“The provincial government has been working hard to connect people on the Health Connect Registry with a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and this is to be applauded,” said Teale Phelps Bondaroff, Saanich Councillor and member of the Family Doctors for Saanich organizing team. “However, the government can only attach people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner if they know those people are looking for one, and that’s where our Health Connect Registry drive comes in. If you don’t have a family doctor and are not on the Health Connect Registry, please sign up, and let the government know you are looking for a primary care provider so they can send more doctors to our community!”
“There is a real opportunity right now to make progress,” said Tony Wass, a Saanich resident and member of the Family Doctors for Saanich organizing team. “When people sign up for the Health Connect Registry, when neighbours get involved, and when we support the organizations bringing new doctors to our region, we help build the primary care system our community deserves.”
Supporting Other Efforts
The campaign is also shining a spotlight on the work of the South Island Primary Care Society, a local organization helping to expand access to primary care across Greater Victoria. Their current fundraising priorities include expanding clinic capacity and supporting the arrival of new doctors to the region. Family Doctors for Saanich strongly supports these efforts and encourages residents to donate directly to support the important work of this Society.
"The South Island Primary Society has made significant strides in addressing the primary care crisis over the past few years, bringing 17 new doctors to the South Island and operating 5 clinics,” said Alyssa Andres, Executive Director of the South Island Primary Care Society. “The next crucial step is to retain these practices and establish even more clinics, as there's still a lot of work to be done and we are committed to seeing that through.”
“Doctors are essential to our quality of life and longevity. Without a family doctor, people are often left to guess, self-diagnose, and miss critical treatment. Physicians are our first line of overall well-being and public health, trained and skilled to save lives,” said Sue DeGrandis, Saanich resident and Family Doctors for Saanich volunteer.
“When I speak with Saanich residents, time and time again, access to primary care is one of their biggest concerns,” said Councillor Phelps Bondaroff. “Our Health Connect registration drive is only the first step. We want to support broader efforts to recruit and welcome more medical professionals to the District so people can get the care they need close to home.”
“As a community, we can all play a part. Many people still do not know that the Health Connect Registry exists. Just telling your neighbour about it can help attach them to a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and it gives the province a clearer picture of the need in our area” said JoAnne Nelson, a Saanich resident and one of the founding volunteers of Family Doctors for Saanich.
Family Doctors for Saanich has launched a website to provide information about the campaign, volunteer opportunities, the Health Connect Registry, and ways to contribute to local primary care efforts. Residents are invited to learn more, sign up for action updates, and get involved.
