Quesnel, B.C.-  Facing the departure of four physicians this year, and possibly more  in  early 2016,  Northern Health  says  recruitment efforts are paying off.

“We have  just signed an emergency room physician  for Quesnel” says Northern Health CEO Cathy Ulrich.  That physician is relocating to Quesnel from Alberta. “We have  a couple of physicians who are going through the practice readiness assessment  that will  also be going to Quesnel” adds Ulrich.

While those can be counted as early successes  in the  recruitment program  Ulrich says it’s really  very early in the process “We have a lot more work to do.”

The recruitment program was launched a month ago, and includes  the development of a primary care clinic, which is still in development.

The good news, says Ulrich, is that Quesnel’s departing physicians gave Northern Health plenty of notice,  so Northern Health has been able to “work methodically with them, and the physicians that are leaving Quesnel are not leaving prior to summer.”  She says  that means  Northern Health  does not expect to have any  disruption  to emergency room hours over the  summer when  staff  take holidays “We have a really good partnership with physicians and the City of Quesnel and we’ve got a good action plan underway in that community.”.