Interior Health ‘doing our best’ in search for doctors to fill vacancies in rural communities

COFFEE WITH THE ARMCHAIR MAYOR — Finding doctors to serve rural communities — and getting them to stay — is no easy job.

I got some insights into the challenges in a conversation with Dr. Curtis Bell that was broadcast on CBC Daybreak Kamloops today. Bell is the community medical director for Interior Health and his priority is recruiting physicians for rural communities.

Logan Lake is without a doctor. Ashcroft is short a couple of doctors and Chase will be down to one by summer. It seems rural communities are always looking for doctors.

Bringing them back to full complements is a priority, says Bell. “I think that it’s important to understand we’re doing our best to get physicians to those communities.”

The Rural Physicians for B.C. Program, implemented last fall, set as a goal the recruitment of 20 new doctors by offering them $100,000 if they located in a rural community and stay there for at least three years.

The IHA was allotted six of those doctors, but Logan Lake lost its doctor shortly after and Bell said the program is under review — it’s not yet known if it will be renewed.

He said a nurse practitioner — one of 17 in the Interior Health Authority — is staffing the Logan Lake clinic and hours may be augmented there but funding is different for nurse practitioners than it is for doctors.

Why is it so hard to do attract doctors to small communities?

“A lot of physicians choose to work in urban centres,” said Bell. “Physicians choosing to work in a rural community is a select group.”

He said a rural practice is much different than a city practice. “You’re expected to do an awful lot of work, know about a lot of things without a lot of backup.”

Daytime office hours are often just part of a rural physician’s day. There’s after-hours work in emergency centres, and they have to be on call.

“All those things really take an extreme amount of commitment.”

In addition, doctors often locate based on the needs of their kids or for religious or specific recreation and other lifestyle considerations.

When Bell talks to doctors about coming to rural B.C., he pitches the natural beauty of British Columbia and the particular attractions of individual communities. “The variety and beauty of B.C. makes it much easier than other places in Canada.”

But it’s still not easy. Coffee done, it was time for Dr. Bell to go back to work looking for rural doctors.