Northern Health has announced the successful recruitment of three physicians to
Fort St. James. One of these doctors will work part-time starting in October 2012, and two
will commence full–time work in early 2013.
In addition to the three physicians who have agreed to come to Fort St. James, two more
site visits with doctors will take place over the next two weeks.
The community of Fort St. James deserves the credit for making the doctors that have
been recruited feel welcomed and wanted.
“The recruitment campaign was a true partnership between Northern Health and
the community. The welcome these physicians received from the community was a
large factor in their decision to accept this offer and relocate to Fort St James.
This success shows that we can achieve our goals by working together,” said
Michael McMillan, Northern Health chief operating officer for the northern interior
health service delivery area.
Northern Health would like to recognize key members of the community who worked
tirelessly to recruit these physicians:
Dr. Paul Stent, Family Practitioner, Fort St. James
Kathy Marchal, Office Manager, Fort St. James Medical Clinic
Aileen Prince, Executive Director, Nak’azdli Health Centre
Renata Walstrom, RN, Nak’azdli Health Centre
Elders, Nak’azdli Health Centre
Nak’azdli First Nation
Yekooche First Nation
Tl’azt’en First Nation
Takla Lake First Nation
Amanda Edge, Head Nurse, Stuart Lake Hospital
Dawn Gauthier, former Head Nurse, Stuart Lake Hospital
Ann McCormick, College of New Caledonia, Fort St. James Campus
Cam McCormick, retired school principal, Sowchea Elementary School
Emily Columbo, Economic Development Officer
Mayor Rob MacDougall, Mayor and Council
Jana Burgart, Caterer
College of New Caledonia Professional Chef program
Friends of Fort St. James National Historic Site
Brad Van Koughnett, Pilot, Interior Helicopters
Medical staff at St. John Hospital in Vanderhoof
Along with the collaborative work with the community, Northern Health’s medical
administration team launched a targeted recruitment campaign for Fort St. James
in February. Northern Health’s medical administration team worked with a
consultant to bring an additional focus on recruiting doctors to this community and
purchased access to databases that connected the organization with over 14,000
doctors in Canada, the USA, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia. This,
combined with other recruitment activities, lead to interest from these three
physicians to visit Fort St. James and make the decision to relocate to the
community.
Over the past five months, the emergency department at Stuart Lake Hospital has
experienced temporary closures due to a lack of physicians in the community. The arrival
of these three doctors in the next six months will help ensure the sustainability of the
emergency department in Fort St. James.
Northern Health has secured locum coverage for the emergency department for nine days
in the month of July. More information on the emergency department hours of operation
and health clinic in Fort St. James is available here.
The recruitment of these three physicians to Fort St. James showcases Northern Health’s
willingness to work with the community to develop short- and long-term solutions to
provide exceptional health care services. It is Northern Health’s hope that this type of
work can be undertaken in other communities to solve physician challenges now and into
the future.