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Attracting new doctors an ongoing effort for New Denver

Community’s action on doctor shortage showing results
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Operating a 24/7 emergency ward has made it impossible to attract new doctors to the community, IH officials said in January.

Two weeks after a province-set deadline passed on emergency services in New Denver, the mayor says the community is moving forward on reinforcing its health servcies..

“This is not a community that will ever just fold up and quit,” said Ann Bunka. “That’s never going to happen.”

In January, the province put New Denver on a roller coaster of emotions over the course of two days. Interior Health met with local leaders and announced it was going to limit hours at the emergency department, from 24/7 to 9-5 on weekdays.

With only one permanent doctor, who has been supported by locums since September, IH said the situation was unsustainable. The change was to begin on Feb. 1.

After massive community backlash, health officials relented, and said they would delay implementing the change until April 1.

Now that deadline’s come and gone, without any reduction in services yet. Bunka says that’s because they found the backup they need for their one resident doctor.

“We are well-covered for locums into June, and we have had several really good expressions of interest from doctors who are interested in coming and looking us over to live here,” she told Arrow Lakes News.

The near-loss of their 24/7 emergency service spurred the community into action, says Bunka. A slick Youtube video, highlighting the beauty of the region and the lifestyle the small community can offer doctors, really had an impact.

“We have a lineup of doctors willing to come and work here now,” she says. “If someone decides they don’t want to come here, we have folks waiting in the wings willing to come here.”

“The video…has helped, and the knowledge of it being a rural posting and the funds that are available for doctors in that, it makes it a pretty nice place to come,” she says. “We also have a locum apartment, so there’s a place to stay. It’s pretty nice here.”

The community has also developed a locum support group called ‘Love Your Locum’, which provides visiting doctors with connections to activities in the community like biking, hiking and skiing. While another committee is working on housing solutions for doctors, a third is seeking economic development opportunities for the community that can provide jobs or business support for doctor’s spouses.

Bunka says this multi-level approach is going to be necessary to solve its doctor-shortage problem in the long run, and she’s under no illusions of the work that’s ahead.

“As in any kind of professional recruitment it’s a long-term thing. Even if we got another doctor tomorrow, we’d be looking for another one,” she says. This place is built for three four-day-a-week doctors.”

“It’s something that will never stop,” she says. “A lot of community members are involved doing research so it’s really galvanized the community. We have a lot to offer as a community and it’s just getting the word out there, that if you’re looking for a certain lifestyle this is definitely the place to be.”

With only one permanent physician in place, however, IH warned in January there may still be temporary interruptions to emergency department services at the New Denver facility. Interior Health says it will let the community know if any temporary closures are necessary due to limited physician staffing.

So far that hasn’t happened, and the work continues to make sure it never will.

“We always knew we were a community that can make things happen, but this has really reinforced it,” says Bunka. “Everybody has rolled up their sleeves.”