THE PRINCE GEORGE FPPF rKfcE rKcjjf^ VOL.3 NO.80 THURSDAY, AUGUST 7, 1997 PHONE 564-0005 PGRH waits to see impact of no physician plan By CHERYL JAHN Free Press staff writer The remoteness of the north might end up working in its favour when it comes to recruiting physicians. The B.C. Supreme Court has killed a plan that would force doctors into rural areas of the province and, in the short term, the executive director of the Northern Interior Regional Health Board says the ruling will have a negative impact on Prince George Regional Hospital. “It is concerning that we may lose some people that have been held here by the prospect of the billing numbers being less in Vancouver. And it will make it difficult to recruit as well,” says Dave Richardson. "On the other hand, when we do recruit people, they’ll be coming here for the right reasons: not because of the fee schedule but because they want to practice here.” In other NIRHB communities such as Fraser Lake, Fort St. James and Vale-mount/McBride, there is a real push to recruit physicians and Mr. Richardson % the short-term, I think it's more negative then positive, but in the long-term... we may have a stronger"'' medical staff.' Dave Richardson hopes this latest ruling won’t “interrupt efforts to date.” “I’m optimistic this [ruling) won’t affect our recruitment of specialists although it’s a bit worrisome that the billing number situation may attract people to leave the north,” he says. A key factor working in favour of the north is the sheer number of practicing physicians in the cities. Even if there is now full reimbursement when a doctor chooses to practice in Vancouver, he explains, the area will be so saturated with doctors there may not be enough work to keep that doctor’s practice afloat. In the north, there’s plenty of work to keep a new doctor busy. “In the short term, I think it’s more negative than positive, but in the long term, I think once we develop our recruitment strategy to deal with that, then we may have a stronger medical staff,” he adds. The supply plan, which came into effect last October, sets out that those communities where there is an over-supply of doctors in a certain discipline will only be reimbursed 50 per cent of their costs under the Medical Services Plan. In those communities where there is an “adequate” number of doctor, reimbursement is 75 per cent. Only in communities where the government believes the community has an undersupply of doctors will there be full reimbursement. The Health Ministry contended the supply plan would attract doctors to rural and remote areas, where recruitment is a chronic problem, rather than the big cities. In Prince George, physician recruitment has always been a problem, in particular over the definition of over- and under-supply. Namely, Turn to Ministry A2 Big spray/B.C. Day Hunter Wagner, diapered, and his cousin Jackson were having more fun than anyone at Monday’s B.C. Day celebration in Fort George Park. John McKenzie/Free Press New tourism promotion putting focus on By MICHELLE LANG Free Press staff writer The Prince George Region Development Corporation has taken the first step towards creating a comprehensive tourism development strategy. With $128,000 in funding from Human Resources Development Canada under its belt, the PGRDC has begun developing a tourism resources inventory. The inventory will detail all of the area’s resources for tourism - from bed and breakfasts to species of wildlife - as a base for the tourism strategy. “You need to see what your situation is before you can develop a strategy,” explains Mitchell Edgar, regional development manager for PGRDC. “It will give us a full understanding of our strengths and weaknesses.” The project is being managed by the PGRDC’s tourism development committee who has hired a UNBC student to collect the data. The Economic Planning Group, a tourism research consulting firm, has been contracted to create a database for the information. When it completes the inventory in November, the PGRDC will make it available to the public at a small cost and hopes to design a webpage for it, which they hope tourists from around the world will use. The PGRDC has also strengths contracted the Economic Planning Group tp take the information and put it on a map which Mr. Edgar says “will be very easy to use.” The main purpose of the inventory, however, is to help the committee with its second phase - the tourism development strategy. The committee should begin the sec-Turn to Adventure A6