ATHABASCA — The first meeting of a new tri-municipal committee on doctor recruitment for the region was held Aug. 24.
The Lakeland Communities Health Advisory Council (HAC) met with the representatives of Athabasca County, the Town of Athabasca and the Village of Boyle to discuss the concerns about replacing doctors who are leaving and set to retire to avoid any emergency room closures as have been happening in Boyle and across the province to ensure the greater Athabasca area has enough physicians.
“I was so happy with that doctor recruitment meeting; it was such a pleasant atmosphere to work in. We had a common goal instead of squabbling crap,” said Athabasca County reeve Larry Armfelt. "It was just a whole lot of good stuff.”
Village of Boyle Coun. Barb Smith agreed the meeting went well and was pleased with the initial steps that have been taken.
"It was a lot of information to process, but Anita (Fagnan) from RhPap (Rural Health Professions Action Plan) was very eager to listen and willing to help us navigate the process,” Smith said in an Aug. 27 e-mail. “Bearing in mind this committee is in its beginning stages, I am extremely happy to see this taking shape and that it is starting on the right foot by learning from other successful committees.”
Smith added the recruitment committee will be looking at all healthcare professionals, not just physicians.
“Although the doctor's shortage is at the forefront currently, I think it's very important to note that this committee will also look at the attraction and retention of health professionals in general as they are vital to our communities as well,” she said.
Town of Athabasca Coun. Rob Balay concurred and added the name of the committee will reflect the goal.
"We got some good information from RhPap on how they can assist our three communities in the formation of, I think we're going to call it (the) Health Professional Attraction and Retainment Committee," he said.
Armfelt said part of the meeting was determining if the lack of doctors is a temporary or a chronic problem.
“We got talking about the crisis, whether this was a long-term crisis or a short-term crisis and we kind of started off thinking that maybe this is just the short-term crisis, but we ended up agreeing that no, this is more than just the medical system, it's a community thing and so therefore we translated it into long-term crisis for the Athabasca area,” he said.
Smith also noted Boyle’s situation isn’t unique as they have faced several emergency room closures over the summer forcing any emergent cases to be sent to either Athabasca or Lac La Biche.
“Many rural communities including Athabasca, are experiencing the same issues as we are, so if we join together regionally and can learn from others, we can confidently make the next steps to get those much-needed professionals in our communities,” said Smith.
The meeting was the first of what will hopefully be many and all three communities are hoping more residents will get involved in the process and are encouraging people of all ages to get involved.
“We wanted to make this multi-generational because it affects everybody from the young lady having a baby to the old guy with aches and pains,” said Armfelt.
Smith added that by banding the three communities together in the search it makes it easier for Boyle, the smallest of the three municipalities, to attract the medical staff it needs.
“We are stronger together than on our own and our region has proven that time and again,” she said. “I have faith that this committee will bolster Boyle's voice and will be another avenue to aid in the resolution of these very real concerns for our community.”
Armfelt said there’s no hard and set age restriction either, meaning young people, who will potentially see a local doctor the longest, can have input as well.
“We never got into any limitations at all; if you're interested and you want to sit on the committee, Hallelujah, brother,” he said.
Balay added maybe creative solutions are needed so he would like to see the committee up and running as soon as possible.
"I guess the ball is sort of in our court now that we got this committee rolling and then we'll start getting into the nuts and bolts of actually getting people to consider choosing us over other communities," said Balay. "We're sort of at that stage right now, but I'm pleased that there's lots of cooperation and momentum going so that's always a good thing."
The HAC will set up a series of meetings once the local committee is fully formed and will be open to the public even if they choose not to join officially.
“This was just kind of a foundation meeting to say OK, now we have to reach out to the community,” said Armfelt. “We have to get as many people in the community involved as we can – approximately six to 12 people on the committee – but they wanted to reach out to a multi-generational audience.”
You can contact any of the three municipal offices to put your name forward to join the committee.
