Six more doctors have come to work in the North, according to Northern Health. Three physicians have located to Quesnel, and one each in Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge, and Dawson Creek. This is the third group of physicians who have committed to working in the North. All of these physicians have successfully completed the rigorous Practice Ready Assessment process. As part of the PRA-BC program, the physicians undergo a rigorous assessment process, spending three months with a B.C. physician who evaluates their skills as they care for patients. Physicians successfully completing the program commit to practice for at least three years in a designated rural community in need. Their arrival represents stability of care. The three new physicians in Quesnel will start practicing in August 2016, with the other three (Chetwynd, Tumbler Ridge and Dawson Creek) starting in September 2016. The PRA-BC program is a collaborative service launched by the Ministry of Health and Doctors of BC, who recognized the need to strengthen health care in rural and remote areas and improve access to family physicians. The program began as a pilot project in April 2015 and since then has been funded for a total of

$7.6 million. “This program, combined with the innovative work we are doing on primary care, allows northern rural and remote communities the flexibility and opportunity to support new physicians in creative practice environments that function around the person and their family,” said Dr. Ronald Chapman, VP Medicine of Northern Health The province is working with health-care providers, health authorities and community agencies on a comprehensive strategy to improve access to integrated primary health-care services across the province. The Practice Ready Assessment program is one component of this strategy. The strategy also depends on the work of more than 30 Divisions of Family Practice to implement innovative changes that meet the needs of their specific communities, such as recruiting new doctors and preparing for retirements, introducing team-based practices, helping general practitioners increase their capacity to accept new patients, using telehealth, and creating stronger links between family doctors and community support services.

Six doctors added in northern communities