A new style of health care delivery aimed at Indigenous people is taking off on Vancouver Island with the development of Indigenous health care clinics.
There are a growing number of Indigenous Community Health Centres that are open or in development on Vancouver Island.
In Campbell River, the Laichwiltach Indigenous Community Health Centre is celebrating its first anniversary. According to Island Health, since opening one year ago the Laichwiltach team has been working hard to create a safe and welcoming health centre for the Campbell River Indigenous community and have supported attachment to a primary care provider for 107 patients, facilitating 3,567 patient visits.
Indigenous people living in rural areas need access to culturally safe health care without having to travel long distances. This new centre provides primary care tailored to the community’s needs and better access to a family physician, registered nurses, and other health-care providers in a trauma-informed environment.
The Ministry of Heath website states that the primary goal of an ICHC is to address health inequities by providing care that incorporates Indigenous knowledge, traditional healing, and trauma-informed practices.
“By focusing on Indigenous populations, these centres create a space where patients feel safe and understood, which is often not the case in the mainstream healthcare system,” starts the ministry.
For that reason, the ICHCs are generally not open to the non-Indigenous public, however, non-Indigenous family members of patients may be eligible to receive care to support family units. The Snaw-naw-as Health Centre in Nanaimo provides services to First Nation members only while others, like the Port Alberni ICHC set to open in 2027, are open to everyone.
Port Alberni will be home to the latest Indigenous Community Health Centre when it opens its doors at 2889-3rd Avenue in the spring of 2027. With its new facility and mobile clinic, it expects to support about 38,000 patient visits annually. The service will be run by the Port Alberni Friendship Center.
The Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC) runs a health clinic out of its main building at 231 Regina Avenue. In 2024 it expanded its primary care clinic when it opened the Camas Lelum Primary Care Clinic at 2951 Tillicum Road.
VNFC Executive Director Ron Rice said at the time that it was an important step toward Indigenous ownership of health services.
“We are excited to offer this new safe space for urban Indigenous health care, which is desperately needed by our community as we begin to understand the prevalence of discrimination and racism in the health-care system,” Rice said in 2024.
The new Indigenous health care centres offer something unique not usually found in the public settings: access to Indigenous cultural practices.
“What sets this model of health care apart from mainstream services is that providers at the Friendship Centre are open and allow patients access to cultural practices and medicine,” said Monique Gray-Smith at the opening ceremony for the Camas Lelum clinic in 2024.
The Laichwiltach ICHC celebrated its first anniversary on April 10, 2026, and though it is not yet fully staffed, it claims to have served thousands of patients.
Operated by the Laichwiltach Family Life Society, the health centre is part of the Campbell River and District Primary Care Network and is funded by B.C.’s Primary Care Strategy.
“The ICHC blends traditional healing and western medicine, offering community-based primary care, elder and traditional healer services and support navigating the health systems,” stated the Ministry of Health.
Located at 441-4th Avenue, the Laichwiltach ICHC currently lists three primary care physicians among its staff, along with three registered nurses, two social workers, a health director and a cultural support team of five that includes Nuu-chah-nulth elders. The facility is looking to hire a family physician, another registered nurse, a physiotherapist, office assistant and community health worker.
According to the Ministry of Health, when operating at full capacity the ICHCs will bring more than 36 full-time equivalent health care providers to the northern and west coast regions of Vancouver Island, improving access to culturally safe care.
“Indigenous people living in rural areas need access to culturally safe health care that reflects Indigenous perspectives, histories and lived experiences without having to travel long distances,” said Minister of Health Josie Osborne. “These centres offer primary care tailored to the community’s needs and better access to a family physician, registered nurses and other health-care providers in a trauma-informed, culturally appropriate environment.”
Combined, the Port Alberni and Campbell River Indigenous community health centres are expected to accommodate approximately 60,000 patient visits per year.
The provincial government supported both the Campbell River and Port Alberni ICHCs with one-time tenant improvement funding of about $3 million and annual operating budgets of just over $3 million for each health centre.
The operating budget will support services, including mental health and substance-use clinics.
“The development of the ICHCs also align with the Ministry of Health’s commitment to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to deliver services that are First Nations-led and informed by traditional wellness values and by the lived experiences of the Indigenous people,” read a Ministry of Health Statement
There are 15 new or significantly expanded community health centres announced and in implementation through B.C.’s primary-care strategy.
“We believe our approach to care is easing the burden on the emergency department and hospital staff by supporting clients with their physical health and their mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, all within a trusted health-care team,” said Merci Lewis, health director for Laichwiltach Community Health Centre.
“ICHCs, together with the 15 nation-led primary-care centres funded by the First Nations Health Authority in partnership with the Ministry of Health, are bringing services closer to home and creating safe, welcoming spaces for First Nations people across B.C. to access the care they deserve,” said Greg Shea, chief operating officer of the First Nations Health Authority.
Besides Victoria, Campbell River, Port Alberni and Nanaimo, other Vancouver Island Indigenous Health Care Centres include the Gwa’sal-Nakwaxda’xw Health Centre in Quatsino and the Tsartlip Health Centre in Brentwood Bay.
