More doctors are in, says P.G. physician
There are no quick fixes to solve the shortage of family doctors in Prince George, but progress is being made.
Prince George Division of Family Practice physician lead Dr. Garry Knoll said efforts to recruit more family physicians are already paying dividends and other projects are in the works to increase the capacity of family doctors already working in the city.
For instance, Knoll said family doctors can work closer with other health providers to help reduce the strain on their practices and serve more patients.
“Doctors often need allied health professionals to help them manage some of the issues people face in their lives,” he said. “Northern Health, as our partners, have also been very good at thinking about new ways that we can integrate multiple services close to the patients, so patients feel well supported.”
Doctors often need allied health professionals to help them manage some of the issues people face in their
lives.
The Division of Family Practice has secured funding to help doctors hire different types of health professionals not normally employed at family medicine centres and is asking local physicians to apply for the money. Knoll said there are many possibilities for how doctors could put the money to use.
“It may be some sort of co-ordinator, it might be a registered nurse who might work seeing patients with medical needs that they can actively manage, it might be a psychologist,” he said. “We have some options for funding and we’ve invited our members to think outside the box on this and to make some proposals around that.”
The issue of unattached patients came to the forefront again last week when the Citizen ran a story about how patient Vivian Gowrie was dropped by her family doctor through a random lottery. Gowrie, who suffers from a host of medical conditions including heart disease, is just beginning her search for a new physician.
Knoll didn’t want to comment about that case specifically, but felt it was important to shine a light on the number of people like Gowrie who are currently without a family doctor and what’s being done to change it.
“We know that if we’re going to solve this unattached patient problem, we’re going to have to change the system,” he said.
The exact number of people in the city without a family doctor is difficult to put a finger on because there’s no central registry, but a study three years ago estimated the figure was between 13,000 and 15,000. Knoll said many of those patients are young men who may be in good health and rarely have the need to see a doctor.
In addition to trying to give doctors more support, the Division of Family Practice has successfully re- cruited some recent graduates of the Northern Medical Program to set up shop in town.
“As young doctors train in our community, they’re going to know exactly what it might be like to practice here and understand the benefits of the community,” Knoll said, noting there are more doctors willing to take on new patients in Prince George now compared with five years ago.
The organization is working with Northern Health to continue to recruit outside physicians to come to the community and recently hosted a site visit for prospective newcomers.
The influx of new physicians has “made a small dent” in the number of local people without a doctor, according to Knoll, but there’s still more work that needs to be done.
Knoll said it’s also important to work with civic organizations to improve the health of all local residents. By reducing obesity and chronic illnesses in the general public, people will require fewer doctor visits and have a better quality of life.
“They enjoy better health, they enjoy better time with their family, they enjoy better time in their retirement, they enjoy better capacity in their work life,” Knoll said. “It’s better for everyone.”