Things Looking Up For Doctor Recruitment in Fort St James
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 @ 4:48 AM
Prince George, B.C. – An increased level of health care will soon be available to those living in the vicinity of Fort St. James.
Northern Health has hired three physicians to work in the community. One starts working part-time in October while the other two begin full-time jobs in January. April Hughes is the Health Services Administrator for the Lakes and Omineca District. She says the recruitments are “absolutely fabulous news for Fort St James and it’s also fabulous for the surrounding communities as well.” She says surrounding communities and local industry outside Fort St James all feed into the hospital there for health care.
These hirings are also great news for Vanderhoof, which has been handling the bulk of patients who haven’t been able to get treatment in Fort St James. Hughes says “it eases some of the workload down here too and will shorten some of the waiting times in our Emerg. Department in Vanderhoof as well."
The problem in Fort St. James has been a dire one. There has been one lone full-time physician there since March 1st, following the departure of a couple, who were both physicians. Two other physicians had left late last year. The lone full-time doctor working since March has been augmented by locums and one nursing practitioner.
Hughes says the new doctors include a young husband and wife who are coming from South Africa. They start full-time work in January. The other physician is originally from South Africa but has been working in Canada, in remote northern communities, for about the last ten years. He is going to work part-time in extended blocks and then return to his home in Whistler. He also happens to be the father of one of the two other recruits.
With five months to go before the two full-timers start work, Hughes says “there is ongoing discussion with locums and there is actually discussion with potential other recruits.” She says Northern Health has a goal of having five full-time equivalent physicians in Fort St. James.
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