QUALICUM BEACH, BC — Flowerstone Health Society is marking five years of delivering community-based primary care in the Oceanside region, celebrating the milestone with its clinical team, staff, and board, and with an outpouring of support from the patients it serves.
The anniversary was marked this week with a gathering outside the Flowerstone Family Health clinic, in Qualicum Beach, where staff stood together in front of a five-year birthday card unlike any other. More than half of Flowerstone’s 4,300 patients took the time to electronically sign the card – so many, in fact, that the messages had to be printed onto a four-by-six-foot card to make room for them all.
“The response was incredibly moving,” said Gerry Latham, Board Chair of Flowerstone Health Society. “Those messages reflect what we hear every day: that people feel known here, listened to, and genuinely cared for. That’s the heart of what Flowerstone set out to be five years ago.”
Founded as a non-profit society with a simple but ambitious goal: to provide accessible, high-quality, team-based primary care; Flowerstone has grown into a multidisciplinary clinic serving thousands of patients in Oceanside who might otherwise struggle to find attachment in the current healthcare system.
Today, the clinic is home to a collaborative care team that includes nurse practitioners, a registered nurse, a pharmacist, a social worker, a respiratory therapist, and a dedicated group of medical office assistants. Together, they provide comprehensive, personalized care that emphasizes continuity, prevention, and strong patient relationships.
That approach is resonating. Flowerstone continues to connect hundreds of new patients through the provincial Health Connect Registry every month, and patient feedback consistently highlights the quality, attentiveness, and humanity of the care being delivered.
“Our care model works because it’s built around people, both patients and providers,” said Liz Gilmour, Clinical Director. “We’ve created an environment where healthcare professionals can practice to their full scope, and where patients feel respected and supported.”
The clinic’s success has also made it a place where healthcare professionals want to be. Flowerstone regularly receives inquiries from nurse practitioners across Canada and internationally, and two students are scheduled to begin placements early in the new year. While demand continues to grow, physical space remains the clinic’s most significant constraint.
Looking ahead, the Society’s volunteer board is actively exploring opportunities to responsibly expand capacity, including the identification of a potential second clinic site. Any future growth, the Society emphasizes, will remain grounded in its non-profit mission and community-first values.
“This five-year milestone is both a celebration and a reflection,” said Gerry Latham. “It shows what’s possible when a community comes together around a shared commitment to care, and it reinforces our responsibility to steward that trust thoughtfully as we plan for the future, with appreciation for the partnerships with the Ministry of Health, Island Health, and the Oceanside Primary Care Network that have helped make this work possible.”
As Flowerstone Health Society looks ahead to its next chapter, this week’s oversized card, filled edge to edge with messages from patients, will remain a powerful reminder of why the work matters, and who it is for.
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