---
title: "Conservatives commit to urgent and primary care centres in 11 BC communities"
description: "Conservative leader Lorne Doerkson announced on October 19 a commitment to open Urgent and Primary Care Centres in 11 communities across British Columbia, including Coquitlam, Surrey, Comox Valley, and Kitimat."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/conservative-doerkson-urgent-care-centres-11-communities-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-20T06:25:45.289Z"
---

The Conservative Party of BC published an announcement on October 19, 2026 saying [Lorne Doerkson](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/lorne-doerkson), its leader, committed to opening Urgent and Primary Care Centres in 11 communities across the province if the Conservatives win the October 24 election.

The 11 communities named in the party's announcement are Coquitlam, North Delta, Surrey, Comox Valley, Greater Victoria, Port Hardy, Steveston, Cowichan Valley, Oceanside, Terrace, and Kitimat. The announcement gave no dollar figure and no timeline for when the centres would open.

## What the party announced

The Conservative Party's announcement says the centres would offer same-day care for urgent medical needs. The party did not describe what services each centre would provide or say how many would be built in each location.

The party quotes Doerkson: "Health care in this province is in total crisis under the NDP." That is a claim the party made in its own release. The announcement also cites 1.2 million British Columbians as lacking a family doctor, nearly 2,400 emergency room temporary closures between 2023 and 2025, and 141,961 emergency room patients who left without being seen in 2024 to 2025. Those figures are from the party's own release and have not been independently verified in this article.

The announcement does not say which ministry would be responsible for funding or operating the centres, or how the sites in each community would be selected.

## What the announcement does not include

The party gave no cost estimate for 11 centres, no breakdown by community, and no staffing plan. The announcement says the centres would require provincial funding and coordination but does not name a source for the money.

The Conservative Party also says the NDP has been in power for nine years without addressing primary care access. That is the party's own characterization of the NDP's record.

## What voters can do

The full list of Conservative Party of BC candidates is at [/bc/provincial-2026/parties/conservative-party-of-bc](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/conservative-party-of-bc). General voting day is October 24, 2026. Advance voting runs until October 21.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/provincial-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.