LAKELAND - The good news is that the provincial government will be paying to help bring physicians to practice in the Lac La Biche community. The bad news is the $6 million project over the next three years describes Lac La Biche as one of "15 identified rural or remote communities of need."
Being defined as a community in need is tough to hear, says Zicki Eludin, a Lac La Biche pharmacist and an original member of the community's Physician Retention and Attraction Committee, but the numbers confirm it.
"When we started, we were short several doctors, and recently I know we've been trying to get more for a while," he said, adding that's he's been off the committee for a few years since it went dormant after some early successes. Interruptions in committee work caused by the COVID pandemic also stalled the committee's work until recently, he said.
In recent months locally and over the last few years in the region, the need for more healthcare services has been a big topic. The communities of Barrhead and Cold Lake are also on the list of 15 communities in line for the funding assistance.
"Cold Lake's hospital wasn't able to run its ER for several days because there is a shortage of doctors," Eludin said.
In the last week, one long-serving Lac La Biche physician suddenly left his practice at the Associated Medical Clinic. Another will be leaving the community in the spring, giving several months notice of his departure. Lac La Biche's obstetrics and surgical services at the community hospital have also been affected by recent physician shortages.
Eludin said a share of the six million dollars — coming from a program the province is calling the Rural Education Supplement and Integrated Doctor Experience (RESIDE) — will help ... but recognized that if the funds are disbursed equally between 15 communities, the local portion may only amount to about $130,000 a year.
Stressing that any funding was better than none, Eludin feels the funding to "in need" communities should have come much sooner, but Alberta's health officials were focused more on the overall COVID-19 picture than rural Alberta healthcare.
"AHS has been totally, totally focused on everything that is COVID, while we have been dealing with a growing acute care crisis," he said.
Dave Phillips was a chairperson of the local retention and attraction group, but no longer sits on the committee. He said he left the role when the committee work slowed down two years ago. He says the news of the funding is positive, but feels the attention the funding project will bring to the issues facing rural communities will be far more valuable.
Doctors coming home
"I am hopeful. It's a great time to recognize the rural areas," said Phillips, who is also the current president of the Lac La Biche and District Chamber of Commerce.
He sees the funding incentive — a share of the $2 million RESIDE fund paid each year directly to physicians choosing to move to the community — as a great way to "bring back" young residents who may have left the community to get their medical schooling. Phillips thinks there could be a pool of more than a dozen potential young doctors who would like to "come home."
"I think the focus should be to get young doctors that went to school here to come back here," he said. "That would be the type of doctor we would want to come; kids from Lac La Biche with parents or grandparents here who know the people and the area."
That option is something to add to the committee's wishlist as it fires back up, says current attraction and retention committee member Jason Stedman.
Also an elected municipal councillor, Stedman admits the committee has seen some stop-and-start activity since its inception a few years ago. Hosting several events that did draw medical students to the community with the promise of a good work and social mix, Stedman said it was ironic that a committee tasked with improving healthcare, was stalled by the largest healthcare issue in recent global history.
"COVID has really taken its toll on the committee. We had a couple of really good events and then COVID came and it really kiboshed the committee," he said, excited that the new funding and the provincial attention will hopefully revive the group's efforts.
Along with the money to help draw potential physicians, Stedman highlighted recent capital projects in the community like the Bold Center, Plamdondon's Festival Center, the new sports fields, the dialysis unit, new ultra-sound services, and the planned upgrade of the Lac La Biche downtown as attention-getters.
Amenities for newcomers
"There is just so much that Lac La Biche County has got going for it," he said.
And it's not just potential newcomers that can be drawn by the new amenities draws he says. Whether it's municipal funding with other levels of government as partners or community fundraising from groups like the Lac La Biche Regional Health Foundation and private citizens, it's good to be seen in the political world as a community that invests in growth.
"We have a proven track record of investing in our community," Stedman said,
As more specific details on the RESIDE funding become available, Stedman hopes to see more community members get involved with the committee as it comes back to life.
The RESIDE program is available to all family medicine resident physicians completing thir residency training this year. Those who choose to work in one of the 15 communities will be eligible for up to $60,000 for undergraduate tuition fee reimbursement along with a "community incentive" raging from $20,000 to $40,000 depending on the community's remoteness.
Other communities on the list of 15 include Athabasca, Cold Lake, Barrhead, Wabasca, Grande Cache, High Level, Rocky Mountain House, Fox Creek, Lloydminster and Ponoka.
More information on the program and other incentives offered to draw more healthcare services to rural Alberta can be found at the Alberta Health website.
The $6 million RESIDE program is part of what the provincial government says is a $90 million plan for 2021-22 to address rural physician recruitment and retention.
