After years of struggling with a lack of physicians, Okotoks now has enough doctors to serve its population and the surrounding area.
Coun. Ken Heemeryck said the Okotoks Physician Attraction and Retention committee has been working non-stop since its formation in 2010 to ease the doctor crunch.
“It took time, but there are now doctors who are accepting new patients in Okotoks,” said Heemeryck. “The committee now says the number of doctors is adequate-plus.”
He said the key now is to continue monitoring the physician numbers as the population grows. The Okotoks Physician Attraction and Retention Committee has honed its procedures and shouldn’t have any trouble staying ahead of the game, he said.
Dr. Ana-Maria Oelschig, co-chair of the committee, said the group is pleased to see the number of doctors even out in Okotoks over the past year. With clinics like Pinnacle Medical Clinic opening, and Southbank Medical set to open its doors in 2017, she said a large portion of the battle has been won.
“Our biggest problem was where to put people once we had filled up all the clinics for space,” said Oelschig. “That was a big problem, but then there was more talk with developers and people that could build clinics and then the doctors started coming.”
New clinics have taken the pressure from efforts to attract new physicians and will allow the committee to focus now on its retention goals, she said.
“There’s a big part to play for the doctors who are here,” said Oelschig. “If everybody works together and we’re a team, then typically people stay. Doctors have their families and they do their thing and enjoy working with other doctors and living in the town.”
She said the committee will continue to assess the number of doctors as the population continues to climb.
The most important thing is to ensure there are enough doctors for everyone in town and the surrounding area to have stable medical care with a physician they can talk to and follow up with as necessary, she said.
“We will monitor if we need more, when we need to get aggressive again – because that’s what we were up until about six months ago, we were very aggressive,” said Oelschig.
The committee tried to recruit new grads and doctors from overseas in its efforts to stabilize the number of community physicians, she said.
The greatest barrier was finding people willing to work in a small town, because it takes a special kind of doctor to do rural medicine, she said.
“When you take on a patient in rural clinics you’re typically taking on all aspects of their life,” said Oelschig. “Once you become a friend to the family you become somebody who really gets involved.”
She said doctors in the city may get involved in their patients lives to some extent as well, but with a heavier workload they’re often not able to lend the same time to their patients and manage all their concerns.
Overall, she said she’s pleased to see the hard work of the committee over the past six years bring positive results.
“Right now Okotoks numbers are looking good,” said Oelschig. “It’s a success story, which is really cool. We’re in good shape at the moment.”
