The increase of doctors in Kneehill County from two to nine in the last year and a half hasn't gone without notice.Reeve Bob Long said more people are choosing to visit local doctors since numbers have stabilized.ìWe lost some people to other areas like Olds and Drumheller so some of these people are now coming back,î he said, explaining that in 2009 five doctors left the county. In November of that year, two doctors retired, and another relocated to a position within the central zone. In May, two more relocated. In six months, almost 10,000 patients lost their family physicians and ER wait times increased.Long, also a co-chair for the county's recruitment and retention committee, said the committee expanded to involve representatives from each municipality within the county including Acme, Carbon, Linden, Three Hills and Trochu, as well as representatives from Alberta Health Services, the Rural Physician Action Plan, Big Country Primary Care Network, and seniors. They also looked for feedback from remaining physicians.Currently in Kneehill County there is one hospital in Three Hills, with a clinic there as well. A second clinic exists in Trochu.ìOne of the initiatives the county did there as well is, we realized one of the drawbacks to attracting new physicians is access to a medical clinic. So we bought the clinic and then made it available to doctors coming in at a fairly reasonable cost.îThe committee offered a signing bonus, introductions to realtors and other local business organizations. Alberta Health Services offered accreditation and relocation. In 2010, one doctor was recruited from within Canada. Another doctor came out of retirement to work in Trochu temporarily. Two doctors finishing their residency agreed to stay, one in Trochu, the other in Three Hills.In 2011, four more doctors were recruited.ìIt was a very successful partnership and that's what was the success of it,î Long said of the collaboration.The committee is still working to attract more doctors, he added.ìWe still have some feeders out there for some people Ö We're seeing that there's more and more people coming back to doctor locally, so we may end up with having to have 10 doctors, we don't know.îAt the beginning of the month, the county was awarded with the 2011 Alberta Rural Community Attraction and Retention Award.ìPeople have to realize it's an award and it's a plaque, but volunteers put time into the project and recognition of the success of their efforts is important for volunteers.îWithin Mountain View County, the Olds physician attraction and retention committee was one of eight nominees.ìIt means a lot to our six people on our committee,î said president Mel Giles. ìWe tend to work away and work away and are extremely focused on conducting these site visits and making sure these people are comfortable when they arrive and making sure they have support Ö It's satisfying to know other people in the business community are aware of what we're doing,î he said of the Olds and District Chamber of Commerce nominating the committee.Since 2007, the number of physicians in Olds has doubled from seven to 14. Giles said a major benefit was bringing all the doctors together under one roof instead of working in two locations, as had been the case when the town had two clinics.ìThe fact that they're all working in one clinic as a team has really enhanced our ability to attract young graduates,î he explained. ìThe last three doctors have been very young and certainly the major factor for them was the fact they were going to be working in a team of experienced physicians and will have help when they need it.îGiles said another successful initiative has been bringing the first-year medical students from the University of Calgary to Olds every May for a complete, one-day sight tour of the community, the CLC and college campus, the medical clinic and hospital. The day ends with supper with current physicians ready to answer any questions the students might have about practising as a rural family practitioner.He said the committee isn't currently attracting any new physicians but added that if anyone was interested, it would set up a tour for Olds.ìJust because we're at 14 doesn't mean we're going to be at 14 in a year's time. There are a number of reasons why people leave areas of employment in any career ñ you can never just sit back and say, ëWe're done.' It's a dynamic process.î
