Recruitment efforts underway as Clearwater set to lose 4 physicians by September

“Three of our physicians are moving to Kamloops [and] they’ve expressed they’re still going to come back and do locum work. The other physician is uncertain, but has also expressed willingness to do some locums here.”

Sim also said two doctors – Ofoegbu and Okezue – arrived in Clearwater on three-year contracts, but ended up staying for five years.

“We’ve had a lot of people who’ve come here thinking they’re only going to stay a while and the next thing you know, it’s 30 years later,” Sim added. “This is such a wonderful opportunity for Clearwater to welcome new people to our community and allow them to discover what it’s like to live in a beautiful part of British Columbia.”

Interior Health has cast a wide net to find new recruits to fill these vacancies and those efforts appear to be working so far.

“We are happy to share we do have a new physician who will be arriving in Clearwater this summer. They’ve already visited the community and received a very warm welcome there,” Richard Harding, chief operating officer for clinical operations at Interior Health North, said.

“We also have discussions with other potential candidates and active recruitment continues for more doctors provincially, nationally and internationally.”

Harding said emergency room closures are the last resort, noting Interior Health officials are at work until the day of – and sometimes beyond – to fill vacant shifts.

“This is a challenge we have across many of our rural communities, especially, as we’re struggling with physician shortages in many rural settings,” Harding said. “This is part and parcel of our daily work, often months and months in advance.”

“We’re very focused on securing more visiting locum physicians while we recruit more permanent physicians into Clearwater.”

Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell said the hope is to have two doctors recruited by this fall and two more by next spring.

“All of that is variable because these are people, too,” Blackwell said. “Things happen, life happens, but that is the intention. Both Interior Health and the ministry realize this has turned into little bit more of a serious thing than what was first envisioned, so my feeling is that actual priority is being put on our situation.”

Blackwell is aiming to find solutions “in whichever way we can.” He hopes to see the addition of two nurse practitioners, noting it will help reduce the burden on the emergency room.

“That would take potentially seven practitioners working out of the medical clinic primarily,” Blackwell said. “If we can divert a lot of very simple things to the clinic to a nurse practitioner for treatment and basic diagnosis, that will take a lot of pressure off the emergency department.”

“If we were to get back the five full-time doctors who all want to do [emergency room] shifts, then we’d only need a few locums now and then for holidays and things like that to balance that out. That is sort of the goal. Let’s balance the clinic and the hospital at the same time.”

Clearwater experienced nearly 60 emergency room closures in 2022 because of a lack of staff. While Blackwell cautioned this August and October could be difficult months at the Dr. Helmcken Memorial Hospital, there is hope this time around, the situation won’t be as bad.

“The community has shown a lot of desire to get involved in this,” Blackwell said. “It’s everything from volunteering but also financially, to help us with those things that might smooth this over. It’s help with rent and subsidies, gym passes and welcome baskets and that sort of thing.”

“The community understands what’s at stake and they really want to get involved.”

Efforts also include deliveries of sweets and baked goods to locums, Sim added, noting it’s in the hopes of convincing them to return to Clearwater either temporarily or perhaps for good.

“I think everybody just finds their fit,” Sim added. “It’s what they’re looking for and what they need, and I think that’s what this community does really well. It’s, ‘What do you need? How can we be of service to you?’ And we make that happen.”

“It’s the magic of small towns.”

by Victor Kaisar

Recruitment efforts underway as Clearwater set to lose 4 physicians by September

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