Four doctors moving to Penticton will improve health-care service for residents living in the South Okanagan.Wayne Tebbutt, the city's economic development officer, said Friday that recruitment
of new practitioners has been a high priority due to doctors nearing retirement and the region's aging population.Penticton has a shortage of doctors. Tebbutt said about 3,500 people are without a family doctor, in addition to people requiring various types of general surgery."It's something we've identified in economic development that we need for the city," said Tebbutt.He has been on a recruitment team consisting of representatives from Interior Health and Penticton Regional Hospital, along with local practitioners."In the last four years, (the team) has helped bring about 12 medical practitioners here, many of them young people with young families who will be here for a long time," Tebbutt said.Penticton currently has 53 family doctors and 49 specialists providing service to a South Okanagan population of about 85,000 to 90,000.Three of the four new doctors come from the Prairies, and the fourth comes from England.Dr. Niall Davidson, from Winnipeg, will work in the Carmi Medical Building, where he will offer services in neurology.In mid-September, Dr. Andrew Lawe will arrive from Calgary to become the fourth general surgeon employed at Penticton Regional Hospital.Dr. David Dutchman is relocating from Hastings, England, and will be one of two new family physicians who have been recruited. Dutchman willassume the duties of a retiring local physician.The second family physician, Dr. Gregory Selinger, from Kindersley, Sask., is accepting new patients at the White Clinic. For appointments, call the clinic at 492-3024.Tebbutt said his role has been to market the city when meeting with doctors interested in relocation.According to Tebbutt, finding a job for a spouse is probably the most challenging issue surrounding successful recruitment. The team recently met with a family doctor who has expressed an interest in relocating to Penticton from Ottawa, but it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find a job for her husband, who works as a toxicologist."Spousal employment is a big issue," he said. "All smaller communities suffer this challenge."Tebbutt said it's difficult to estimate how many patients a family doctor can serve, but initial numbers can be anywhere from 900 to 1,000.Because the team is committed to attracting additional doctors to the city, it has worked hard to prepare presentation packages for medical practitioners making inquiries.This spring, Tebbutt, along with a local specialist and a representative from Interior Health, attended rural physicians' conference in Winnipeg, where they spoke of Penticton's need for more doctors."We try hard to make it look like we're really interested and that we're professional in our presentation," he said. "We're ready, willing and able to help."Doctor recruitment is ongoing. Tebbutt said while he is pleased with the doctors recruited and the impact the team is having on health-care service for residents in the South Okanagan, there are still two areas greatly in need of doctors: psychiatry and pediatrics."We make no bones about it; these are two sectors where we haven't been successful," he said.
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