File photo (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

FAMILY DOCTOR SHORTAGE

Kamloops family doctor recruitment campaign comes to an early end

Jan 25, 2023 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — Last fall, the Thompson Region Division of Family Practice began a campaign to help attract family doctors to Kamloops. The program, Champions for Family Medicine, aimed to recruit and retain doctors with financial support from local businesses.

While the local Division of Family Practice had hoped to run the program into May, a lack of support forced it to come to an early end. The organization is pledging to learn and improve its efforts moving forward.

“It’s certainly disappointing. We felt we really did a good job of celebrating the family practitioners who we have here who are doing amazing work, educating the public about the family doctor recruitment challenges and the need for the community to get involved. But, where we fell short is engaging the business community and getting those cash sponsorships. While it’s disappointing, it is understandable,” said Executive Director Tim Shoults.

The shutdown of the program is in no way a reflection on the business community in Kamloops, reiterated both Shoults and Kamloops North-Thompson MLA Peter Milobar.

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“The real core piece to this is that it shouldn’t take a fundraising effort, almost a Gofundme effort to try to have a doctor recruitment strategy for Kamloops and the surrounding areas. That really does need to be the provincial government and the health authorities putting the proper resources into not just recruitment but retention,” said Milobar.

For now, focus shifts back to addressing the problem that, while not unique to Kamloops, is more acute, with twice the provincial average struggling to secure a family doctor.

“To not have the province step up, to not have them step up to do an enhanced recruitment and retention of the physician base within Kamloops with such a glaring anomaly to the number compared to the rest of the province is a real shame, and (the Interior Health Authority) needs to play a role in this as well,” added Milobar.

With two out of every five Kamloops residents without a doctor, patients are forced to attend Royal Inland Hospital, local clinics or use virtual options. Some newcomers, lucky enough to have doctors elsewhere, are left travelling hours for basic medical care.

“If it’s over the top or anything that’s serious, we will drive back to Abbotsford for that,” said Jason, who spoke to CFJC Today in downtown Kamloops.

Bryan, who became a Canadian resident back in 2019, has been searching for a doctor ever since, continually being reminded he is on a list.

“(We) keep hounding the government, being like, ‘Hey, I need a family doctor.’ They say, ‘You are on the list,’ but nothing ever changes and I’m still waiting,” said Bryan.

The Division of Family Practice still believes there is a role for the business community to help attract family doctors.

“We need to learn and we need to retool. And we need to engage with our board of directors who are made up of local family physicians and get their support and buy-in to a revision for this. And look for other ways that business that are interested in helping us bring family doctors to Kamloops can partner with us on it,” said Shoults.