Closing Your Practice

Whether physicians are closing down their practices due to retirement or for other reasons, it is a major undertaking requiring a lot of planning.

The following are resources that can help with closing or retiring from practice. More information will be made available soon.

Templates for closing your practice

The following are editable templates that can you can customize to help you communicate your retirement or leave from practice.

Notifying patients, colleagues, and associations of your departure 

Notifying patients and ending the doctor-patient relationship

It is recommended that patients be advised of your leaving, if possible, at least three months prior to your departure date to allow them ample time to make alternate care arrangements. 

To keep your patients informed, download the following patient notification letter templates.

• Retirement announcement - new physician takeover
• Retirement announcement - no new physician to takeover
• Retirement announcement - searching for replacement physician 

Departure notices

It is important to ensure that your departure is not only widely communicated to your patients, but also among colleagues, health care partners, and professional associations. This will ensure a smooth departure out of the system with minimal disruption to patients and colleagues.

The following templates can help you communicate your plans for retirement or other leave to the right people.

• Departure notice - colleagues
• Departure notice - professional association
• Departure notice - printable office poster
• Departure notice - sample voicemail script

Other helpful resources

BC Resources

• College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC – Practice Standard: Leaving Practice
  
  • CPSBC must be notified via writing of your intentions of leaving practice using the Resignation and Retirement form.
• Canadian Medical Protective Association – Tips for family physicians closing practice
• Doctors of BC – Guidelines for protecting medical records when leaving a practice

For professional advice on retirement and estate planning, contact MD Financial Management.

Divisions of Family Practice Resources

• Vancouver Division – How to Retire Guide
• Richmond Division – Practice Transition Toolkit
• South Island Division – Succession Planning Guide

Ontario Medical Association Resources

• Closing a Practice: Guide for Physicians
• Closing a Practice: When the unexpected happened