Reeve Bruce Beattie will represent Mountain View County on Sundre's health professionals attraction committee, council agreed earlier this month following a presentation by committee members.“There are three things we would like from the county,” said Heidi Overguard, a county resident. “One: representation on our attraction committee. Two: a commitment to engage with us. The third thing is a commitment to work with the Town of Sundre to share an $18,000 housing grant for each physician recruited.”Dr. Hal Irvine, who co-chairs the committee, said there was a need to attract six doctors during the next 15 months to fill the 10 positions required for Sundre, but that two doctors had already been recruited – one from Medicine Hat who starts in August and another from England.“We have two committed and we're looking for four more. So we're talking about $36,000 now and $72,000 later,” Irvine said of the total funding amounts required.“The main barriers we have right now are around temporary housing and our current clinic space. There's very little temporary housing in Sundre and very little rental accommodations,” Irvine said.With 48 vacancies for general practitioners in the Central Zone, “it's a buyer's market” for doctors, Irvine said. “If I was a family doc looking for a place to go I'd have a lot of choice.”Irvine said the doctors recruited by the committee would be expected to make a three-year commitment to practising in the area.Mayor Annette Clews said any funding commitment by the town would have to be decided by Sundre council, but added that she “would like to work more together as a group” to recruit and retain doctors.“I can't speak for council but I support it,” said Clews, who was sitting in the gallery during the meeting and briefly addressed council on the proposal.“The first step I would see is to get representation on the committee,” Beattie said. “Then we can talk about what role we can play as a county. We need to get involved on the ground floor this way and get involved in the process.”Carstairs built a clinic to attract and retain doctors and Olds undertook a major recruitment effort, Div. 7 Coun. Al Kemmere pointed out, adding that the committee's funding request “opens a significant door to something else.”“If Mountain View County formed a committee encompassing all of (the towns' doctor recruitment efforts), would you be willing to participate?” Kemmere asked Irvine.“Any long-range, strategic, collaborative approach, we'd be happy to participate,” Irvine said.Div. 1 Coun. Kevin Good said he would support “a countywide approach” to the issue.The Sundre health professionals attraction committee was formed in September 2011 under the auspices of the Sundre & District Chamber of Commerce. Members includes town officials, medical professionals, business leaders and Alberta Health Services.The presentation touched on the committee's long-term goal of establishing a multidisciplinary health building in Sundre that would provide “one stop for all community health needs” and serve as a showcase for the community.
