Bonnyville's work in successfully recruiting six new doctors to the region has turned heads all across the province.
Officials with Alberta's Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP) were so impressed with the local committee's well-rounded approach to attracting and retaining physicians that they have honoured them with an award.
The Bonnyville Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee – consisting of representatives from the Town, MD and Covenant Health Centre – received the Alberta Rural Community Physician Attraction and Retention Award last week.
“It is a vindication for all the efforts that we have made,” said Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski. “It is very satisfying and rewarding to be able to have taken part in the development of that committee.”
The three sides joined forces and created the committee in August of 2014, after the local Health Centre lost a few doctors and entered crisis mode.
In six short months the group was able to persuade six new doctors to move to the region and join the staff at the local hospital.
By joining forces with the Town and MD Council's the committee was able to create a bank account and offer financial support to perspective doctors wanting to purchase a house in the community. Both the MD and Town contributed $150,000 each into the reserve account, which was used to offer loans.
RPAP officials were impressed by the different initiatives that were undertaken by the local committee to entice doctors to come to the local Health Centre.
“These efforts were deemed to have had a dramatic impact, as Bonnyville went from a shortage of five physicians in 2014, to recruiting six new doctors, in less than two years,” said David Kay, RPAP Executive Director.
The group also created a welcoming committee, which saw Sobolewski, Reeve Ed Rondeau and other locals tour perspective doctors around town to show them what Bonnyville was all about.
“It is another testament to showing off our lifestyle. Why we live in Bonnyville. Why we live in the MD and what makes this area so special,” said Sobolewksi. With those doctors that were recruited that was the fundamental protocol that we used. Those six doctors looked at Bonnyville and said this is the area that we want to be in.”
Dr. Hercu van der Watt, who was an integral part of creating the committee, felt the group had to try and sell the new recruits on benefits of coming to this region and what the local lifestyle was like.
“The big thing with this committee is we are trying to sell a sense of community,” said van der Watt. “I initially came here for what I thought was a short period, but it is an incredible place to live and we just need to get that message across to the physicians and hopefully they will stay.”
According to Sobolewksi, RPAP officials are planning on coming to the community and shoot a short video documenting the local committee's process of successfully recruiting and retaining doctors.
The group's ability to sit down at a table with a very large problem and come up with a quick successful way to fix it, has impressed many across the province.
Even though Bonnyville has solved their doctor shortage, the committee is still forging ahead to ensure that the community never has to deal with another critical doctor shortage again.
Earlier this summer the first ever doctor recruitment golf tournament was held to raise funds for the committee so they can keep a large bank of reserve funds on hand.
Sobolewski is proud of the accomplishments achieved by the local group and blown away by how quickly it all came together.
“I knew inside my heart we would be successful,” said Sobolewski. “In my wildest dreams never thought we would be this successful, this quickly.”
