Dentist Elysa Kliman, originally from Toronto, starts her day just right on Bowen Island, B.C. She walks a trail surrounded by lush forest to reach her workplace: Bowen Island Dental, the island’s first official dental clinic, which opened in September.
When she arrives, the clinic’s open-window concept fills the space with natural light and fresh air. “I’ve never worked in an office with a window that actually opens,” says Kliman, who moved to B.C. in 2019 with her family.
“This place is like a dream. It’s a tiny island in the Pacific, surrounded by forest. It’s insane.” Dr. Kliman.
“This place is like a dream. It’s a tiny island in the Pacific, surrounded by forest. It’s insane,” said Kliman, who graduated from the University of Southern California in 2012.
It wasn’t only Kliman’s dream. Since its opening, Bowen Island Dental has nearly 1,500 patients turning a long-held vision into reality for Peter Kearney and Clive Jones, who have called the 50.12-square-kilometre island home for decades. The three dentists—Kliman, Kearney, and Jones—now work at the clinic, just three kilometres west of mainland Vancouver.
For years, Bowen Island residents had to take a ferry to Vancouver for dental care. Kearney and Jones, who both commuted by ferry to their previous clinic, have been partners for 25 years. Kearney started his first clinic with his wife, Dr. Katrin Turu, in 1983 in Vancouver. Jones joined later as an associate before becoming a partner. Now, in addition to the new clinic, Kearney still commutes to his Vancouver practice.
“Clive and I have been talking about putting an office on Bowen for 20 years,” said Kearney, who proudly welcomed CBC for an interview in January as part of a report on sea lions, orcas, and other wildlife making a comeback in Howe Sound after a decrease in pollution.
“People often end up leaving Bowen Island because of healthcare.” Dr. Jones
Population boom post-COVID-19
Bowen Island’s population, once just 750 in 1979, has surged. By 2021, it reached 4,256 and swells to nearly 7,000 in the summer tourist season.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this growth, with more people working remotely and seeking a lifestyle closer to nature. Jones describes these newcomers—among them, former Canadian men’s national soccer team members and Kliman herself—as “catalysts.”
“We just needed the right skills to make it happen, and a bit of ‘magic’ to get it rolling,” Jones said.
In addition to the dental clinic, the Bowen Island Community Health Centre (BICHC)—long awaited by residents—opened in April, paving the way for the dental clinic to welcome new patients that fall.
“People often end up leaving Bowen Island because of healthcare,” said Jones, a resident for 31 years, who suffered a heart attack eight years ago. After all, Jones was on the board that pushed for the health centre.
The two-storey, 993-square-metre (10,686-square-foot) BICHC was built through $9.7 million in fundraising—$3.1 million from the provincial government and $6.6 million from the Bowen Island Health Centre Foundation. With 3.6 full-time doctors and a LifeLabs facility, Bowen now has broader healthcare services.
The dental office itself was “intentionally built” within the community health centre to provide “collaboration among care providers and a more holistic approach to all patient care,” explained Kliman.
Fast patient enrollment, recruitment ongoing
So far, the clinic operates four days a week and welcomed a new dentist in early 2025, joining two dental hygienists from North Shore, Greater Vancouver, who take the ferry to the island. Due to the clinic’s rapid growth and Kliman expecting her second child this spring, the team is looking to expand the schedule and hire additional staff across all roles, including front desk, CDA, hygiene, and associates.
“Patients enrolled faster than we thought,” said Jones, who has been practising dentistry since 1982.
Building challenges: ‘We trucked everything’
Launching the clinic wasn’t easy. COVID-19 made everything more expensive, pushing construction costs 40 per cent over budget to around $1.4 million.
“The process was costly and logistically challenging,” Kliman said. “We trucked everything in, housed workers overnight on the island—it was a lot.”
The team worked closely with Sinclair Dental Co. Ltd. and its designer, Marianne Seguin—who later went solo—as well as Atlas Construction to create an office with a mid-century vibe that feels more like a California living room than a typical clinical setting. “Patients feel at home here, and we are all happy that the time and financial investment in design paid off,” Kliman said.
Still, they wanted the best for the clinic.
Despite the challenges, Kliman is thrilled with her two assistants—both from the local community. One relocated for her son’s schooling and was thrilled to find a job without a city commute. The other, a retired professional, re-entered the workforce part-time and is now working on reinstating her licence through the college.
Their arrivals felt almost serendipitous—a “unicorn situation,” as Kliman calls it.
In a testament to the community spirit and the goal of bringing a full-service clinic to the island, one resident, a retiree, has become the receptionist.
“Our receptionist, a longtime community member of the island, came out of retirement just to help us make this vision a reality,” Kliman said in appreciation.
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The team from BowenIslandDental.ca can be reached at info@bowenislanddental.ca.
