About Dr. Baldev Sanghera
My Story
I was born in Panjab, India and immigrated to the UK at the age of three. I spent my childhood and early years living in both the UK and in Prince George, BC. As immigrants, we started with very little — relying on a strong work ethic and mutual family support to become established in our new home. My life as a young person was filled with diverse experiences: from labour jobs to sales and marketing, to helping run a family construction business. These experiences instilled a mindset focused on innovation and a positive attitude with the belief that there’s always a constructive way forward.
In 1987, I moved to BC full time and enrolled in the Pharmacy program at UBC; in 1991 I was selected the Centennial Scholar for Pharmacy. Before completing my Pharmacy studies, I joined the UBC Medicine program and there I served as a Chief Resident in UBC’s City Residency Program. In 1993, I met my soulmate Nav and we married. We are now the proud parents of two beautiful, caring, thoughtful, adult children with bright futures in their chosen healthcare fields. Since 1998 I have maintained a full-scope, multicultural, community-based Family Practice in Burnaby, with a special interest in employing technology to improve delivery of care.
My Professional Journey
My career in medicine has spanned 25 years in multiple settings, including community practice, long-term care, obstetrics and caring for patients in hospital, alongside FPs, hospitalists, and specialists. This experience has given me broad exposure and built an appreciation for the systemic issues affecting physicians in all patient care settings.
As a Physician Lead on numerous collaborative initiatives, I have extensive experience working with all levels of government, health authorities, and community agencies, with a focus on building community wide team-based care and advocating for vulnerable citizens through improving social determinants of health.
Leadership
I am a Clinical Instructor and Educator with UBC Medicine, Medical Council of Canada, and GPSC Practice Support Program, while supervising IMG’s and supporting new and existing Family Physicians in the community. It is essential that Family Practice continues to become more efficient and sustainable, and as an established Family Physician, I continue to support and mentor my colleagues. I am committed to this principle in all the work that I do.
I am the Medical Director of PrimeCare Medical, Edmonds UPCC, and the Edmonds PCN, and formerly Burnaby Covid Testing and Assessment Site and New Canadian Clinic. The Edmonds UPCC is the only physician operated UPCC model in the province. It was important to me that stakeholders see this UPCC as an example and strength of physicians in this space. I listened to my colleagues and participated in negotiations that allowed community FPs to staff the clinic rotation and ensure the clinic was purposely built into the Burnaby PCN. The principal of this UPCC is to always support longitudinal care while providing needed urgent episodic care. Its function is to support community practices, not to compete with them. The best place for a patient to seek care is with their longitudinal primary care provider and I ensure that our operations support this principle. This UPCC is open 365 days a year through the support of the physician community.
As Medical Director of the Edmonds PCN, I am contributing to and overseeing the design and development of clinic models to support new and existing Family Physicians. I will be the Medical Director for the future Edmonds Incubator Clinic, which will create a mentoring environment for experienced FPs to nurture new-to-practice FPs. This clinic will also serve as a best-practice team-based care model to support the other practices in the community to evolve towards team-based care.
Collaboration
I am a Founding Board member of the Burnaby Division of Family Practice and former Vice-Chair. I continue to be immersed in the work of the Division and its success in engaging physicians in our community, amplifying their voices and driving strategic principals forward that ensure Family Physicians are supported and their choice of practice model remains sustainable.
I am a Physician Lead for the Burnaby PCN which has been set up with a tri-partite governance model to truly give voice to our community partners so we ensure broader collaboration to address locally identified service gaps.
The Burnaby Covid Testing and Assessment Site was the only partnership site in the province (co-operated by the Physicians and Health Authority.) We rapidly opened within a 2-week period in response to the needs of my colleagues. I was able to leverage the infrastructure of our physician operated Edmonds UPCC to make this possible. I truly believe that we are STRONGER TOGETHER and, in this work, I was able to protect my colleagues when PPE shortage was a reality. This site allowed for in-person assessment for suspected respiratory cases and swabbed over 100,000 patients. Also, we helped our community practices reopen by quickly transitioning to virtual care mechanisms.
I remain a key contributor, effective negotiator, and Physician Lead on steering numerous initiatives to improve patient access, quality of care and outcomes, including Burnaby Collaborative Services Committee, GP4Me, Burnaby PCN Burnaby Healthy Community Partnership, and Patient Medical Homes (including intra and inter-office information management and technology), and Burnaby’s Covid Response Strategy. I make time to ensure that I use my experience and knowledge to serve my community and represent my colleagues.
My Interests and Community Involvement
Finding inspiration in both my responsibility as a Family Physician and in the Sikh faith’s tenant of uplifting fellow humans and advocating for social justice, I’ve committed to working with the City of Burnaby and grassroots organizations like Guru Nanak Free Kitchen and VIRSA-Sikh Alliance Against Youth Violence to steer policy and develop programs to:
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build a more livable city for all residents,
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facilitate healthy living,
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meet the needs of marginalized communities by addressing the social determinants of health, and
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support youth and families in the South Asian community to prevent drug-gang involvement.
I believe in creating opportunities for access to reliable health and wellness education. I actively participate and present in community public health education talks such as Burnaby PCN DocTalks, Walk With Your Doc, and numerous media engagements.
I am also a Steering Committee member on the South Asian Covid Task Force. Together we have launched numerous media and awareness campaigns, including conceptualizing the successful nation-wide “This Is Our Shot” campaign, with an aim to dispel misinformation and reduce vaccine hesitancy in the South Asian community. We continue to advocate for greater awareness of the intersectionality of risk factors affecting minority communities during the pandemic.
For fun and fitness, I love getting outdoors and hiking in our beautiful natural surroundings. I regularly enjoy bicycling, soccer, running and golfing. I love to travel with my family and look forward to returning to this post-Covid.
