The Rural Emergency Enhancement Fund (REEF) is intended to encourage the provision of reliable, public access to emergency services in health authority (HA) designated emergency departments in rural BC served by fee-for-service physicians.
REEF is intended to recognize and support the breadth and comprehensive nature of general practice in rural BC communities where physicians typically provide hospital services in conjunction with providing full-scope family practice services.
The Program
- Provides annual funding of up to $200,000, where the health authority has designated a site for 24/7/365 public access to hospital emergency services.
- For less than 24/7/365 service, the annual funding amount will be reduced pro rata to correspond with the HA designated hours of public access.
- An Emergency Department (ED) coverage plan (“Plan”) will be developed by the group of community physicians who are prepared to commit to provide 24/7/365 public access to hospital emergency services in their communities.
- The Plan is to be developed collaboratively with the HA.
- Once approved, the physicians and HA will implement the Plan and submit quarterly invoices to the Ministry of Health (MoH) confirming whether the Plan was followed.
- Once reviewed by the MoH, funding will be released to the HA.
- The HA will release the quarterly funding to the “Appointee”, as identified by the physician group in the REEF application, for distribution as appropriate.
Eligibility
- Applies to fee-for-service physicians supporting HA designated EDs in RSA communities.
- EDs and hours of public access must be formally recognized and supported by the HA.
- Physicians must be part of the ER on-call rota and maintain active staff privileges in their rural community hospital or health authority designated facility.
- Physicians must sign the Plan on an annual basis.
- The maximum any one physician may receive under REEF is $65,000 per annum.
For more information about REEF, contact the Physician Compensation Rural Practice Programs at the Ministry of Health at hlth.RuralPrograms@gov.bc.ca or contact your local health authority.
