THE
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SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2013
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THE D O CTORS
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Last year around this time, Fort St. James was down to one local doctor and there was no help in sight
Three family practice physicians departed the town on Highway 27 at the end of 2011 and in early 2012, leaving only Dr. Paul Stent to man the fort at the clinic and Stuart Lake Hospital.
“There was a lot of worry, a lot of angst and concern,” Fort St. James Mayor Rob MacDougall recalled. “But it was something that was out of our control.”
With only one permanent doctor and a series of locums coming in and out to help, the emergency room was open intermittently throughout much of 2012. With the nearest hospital 40 minutes away, MacDougall said people subconsciously became more safety-minded knowing help wasn’t necessarily available close by.
At CNC’s campus in Fort St. James, instructors even changed the way they evaluated some classes. In the chef’s program, speed was not considered as part of the grade when the students were chopping up ingredients, instead accuracy was emphasized above all else.
MacDougall and other leaders in the town of 1,700 people knew something needed to be done, and fast.
“When you have a local crisis, everyone puts their heads together to find a solution,” MacDougall said. “It may be a local solution or it may be working with other agencies to find a solution. We look local first, of course.”
That solution was found remarkably quickly after the community rallied around a plan that would see local people lead part of the recruitment drive and a local committee operate the clinic through a
PETER JAMES
not-for-profit society.
Drs. Anton Meyer and Marile and Pieter Van Zyl arrived in the last quarter of last year and one more is set to arrive later this spring. Less than a year after the future of local medicine was in doubt, the town’s health care prospects are as bright as ever.
In the past what had happened was doctors would come in, look around, turn around and drive out...
— Ann McCormick
Ann McCormick, the supervisor of the CNC campus, helped organize the grassroots effort to convince the physicians to move to Fort St. James and is part of the committee getting the non-profit clinic off the ground. After Northern Health hired dedicated recruiters and identified potential candidates, the local group swung into action organizing tailored site visits depending on who was coming.
“In the past what had happened was doctors would come in, look around, turn around and drive out,” McCormick said.
“They really never got a sense of who we were and what we were about.”
Each visit required about 20 volunteers to donate time or services. The two-day trips
included visits to the local golf club, ski hills and medical facilities, lunch at the national historic site, helicopter trips and host of other activities. If it was a young couple who were being wooed, the group included other like-minded young professionals.
If the doctor of their partner was into the arts, the local artistic community made an appearance.
“We took a look at their resume and thought, ‘how would they fit into this community if they came here?’” McCormick said. “And we were very sincere about it.” Pieter and Marlie Van Zyl said the outdoor lifestyle of Fort St. James appealed to them. The young couple from South Africa had been working in emergency medicine prior to coming to B.C. and said they were impressed their demographic is well represented in the community.
“We had a dinner at one of the local people’s houses and at that stage we were still undecided about our decision,” Pieter said.
“The fact that they invited people that were our age that are professionals and are social, played a huge role.”
Marile was impressed by the aboriginal involvement in the recruitment because the rural care is important to them.
“In this area where there are a lot of rural communities, it’s good to invest in that,” she said. “If those committees are healthy then you have a healthy town.”
The doctors also received recruitment portfolios with more information on the community, including details on schools and places of worship.
Although the visits were specially designed to show off all Fort St. James has to offer, some of the highlights of the tours were the unscripted moments.
Economic development officer Emily Colombo, one of the young professionals involved in the recruitment, remembered a unique experience at the historic site.
— see THE KEY, page 4
MORE INSIDE
• A model for success - EDITORIAL 6
• WIDC is a go - PAGE 3
• Hospital gets learning centre - PAGE 5
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