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By Dave Barry

Armchair Mayor

ROTHENBURGER: Doctor-incentive plan amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul

Jun 15, 2022 | 4:32 AM

THE DOCTOR SHORTAGE was the subject of a presentation to Kamloops City council on Tuesday that was both highly encouraging and decidedly depressing.

The Royal Inland Hospital Foundation appeared as a delegation to propose a partnership with the City in a campaign to attract more doctors to the area. What they suggest isn’t just some namby-pamby promotional campaign touting the wonders of Kamloops and region.

No, it’s a very specific, results-oriented plan to give physicians reasons to come here. Basics such as finding a good place to buy or rent, help in setting up an office and business, maybe some tax incentives.

And we seldom think about the fact that even doctors need doctors. If a community is short of GPs, it’s a disincentive for other doctors, especially specialists, to come, lest they find themselves in the same situation as so many other residents who live hand-to-mouth, family doctor-wise.

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Other communities across the country are answering with their own versions of incentive programs. Belleville in Ontario, for example, offers $150,000 in debt relief, vacation coverage and help in finding office space.

In Niagara Falls, a doctor can get $50,000 for office furnishings and equipment plus moving expenses of up to $5,000. In Beaver Lodge, Alberta, municipal taxes are waived.

And in B.C., Fort Nelson offers the cost of housing plus utilities for up to a year.

This is what Canada’s healthcare system has come to: communities fighting with each other for doctors. What it amounts to is trying to rob them from other places. That’s depressing.

And, to accomplish that, City residents will have to pay up with a tax increase. That’s depressing, too.

So, City council will think about it. As the delegation said, to compete we have to at least match what other communities are doing.

Snooze you lose comes to mind. It’s encouraging that there’s a realistic strategy to consider; depressing that it’s come down to this.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.