The local medical community’s efforts to recruit new doctors to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows have attracted seven practitioners in the past year.
“That is fantastic,” said Dr. Ursula Luitingh, lead physician of the Ridge Meadows Division of Family Practice.
“Our goal in A GP For Me was only two doctors, so getting seven is amazing.”
That program is an initiative of B.C. doctors and the Ministry of Health, with a goal to have everyone in B.C. who wants a family physician to have access to one.
Research shows that continuous doctor-patient relationships lead to the best health outcomes.
A GP For Me was led locally by the Division of Family Practice. Its research found there are 17,000 people in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows who do not have a family physician.
They also found that more than one-third of the community’s doctors will be retiring over the next 10 years, and in that same time frame the area’s population will grow by 19 per cent.
The Division of Family Practice, an organization that represents 87 family physicians in the community, has been recruiting doctors, often competing with other communities in the region for their services.
“We’ve been very successful at attracting GPs here,” said Treena Innes, division director.
Five have been recruited since August, three settling in Pitt Meadows and two in Maple Ridge.
Two more doctors from the U.K. have agreed to move to Pitt Meadows, but have not yet arrived.
Each doctor will have a roster of patients ranging from 1,500 to 2,000, so people wanting to have their own family doctor should soon find they have some choices.
Diplomatic agreements between the governments of South Africa and Canada have stopped the flow of physicians from that country. More doctors have been recruited to B.C. from South Africa than from any other country in recent years.
But doctors from the UK are willing to come to Canada, attracted by the quality of life, said Innes.
“The biggest common thread is personal life/work balance,” she said, adding that doctors in the UK are expected to work long hours.
Dr. Luitingh said the recruiters showcase the community, with its schools, neighbourhoods, recreation opportunities and other attractive features. They have a Red Carpet program, which virtually rolls one out for foreign physicians.
“Our community convinces them to stay here,” she said.
Before they practice in Canada, doctors from other counties must go through a qualifications process with the College of Physicians, and are also mentored and supervised by a Canadian doctor.