In what is considered an unprecedented turnover of doctors for the community, Sundre will see an almost entirely new team of physicians serving local and area residents over the next nine months.
“I have not seen the community move as many doctors at once,” said Gerald Ingeveld, chairman of the Sundre Health Professional Attraction and Retention Committee. Ingeveld, who has been chair of the committee for just over a month, is now tasked with retaining and welcoming the new doctors to town. “This is the first time it has been a real concentrated effort to get as many as we needed.”
By next summer Sundre will ultimately have six new full-time doctors, most of them arriving from the United Kingdom, who are each committed to serve the community for a period of three years. There will also be three other new doctors who will be practising in Sundre for a period of between six months to a year.
Prior to Ingeveld's appointment the committee was headed by Dr. Robert Warren, who is leaving the town for a year with his physician wife Michelle. The committee's first task when it was created in 2011 was to work with Alberta Health Services through the Alberta Rural Physician Action Plan (RPAP) to recruit and attract new doctors to town. The RPAP is an independent not-for-profit company established in 1991 by the Government of Alberta. It provides a provincially-focused comprehensive and sustained program for the education, recruitment and retention of physicians for rural practice.
The current situation in Sundre was caused by the unprecedented departure and retirement of six full-time doctors within a short time period. Dr. Glenn Kowalsky has retired, as are Dr. Carol Rowntree and Dr. Hal Irvine. Dr. Tim Souster has gone back to school and the Warrens are leaving town for a year.
In the meantime, there are many issues that have to be settled in successfully bringing new doctors to the community, particularly if they are coming from another country. These issues include visas, work permits and accreditation.
“When the doctors arrive RPAP helps them get certified up to standards. They (doctors) need to upgrade their skills,” said Ingeveld, noting each doctor must go to a hospital outside Sundre for three weeks to obtain their accreditation.
The other key issue facing the committee is seeking funding from both the town and Mountain View County to house the new doctors. Ingeveld said the committee is seeking $18,000 a year in rent funds for each doctor.
In the meantime, the committee is hosting an open house at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 at Country Road RV.
“We have to bring the community up to speed, what new doctors are coming and where are we going to put them,” said Ingeveld, who added his community has been very fortunate that it has been able to recruit as many doctors as it has been able to over the past year.
“There is a terrible shortage of doctors in Canada, particularly in rural Alberta. A lot of communities are offering incentives,” he said.
The first new physician to arrive is Dr. Mark Wylie, who began working in the community last summer after practising in Oyen. He is a former schoolteacher, principal and tank commander in the Canadian Armed Forces. Wylie lives in Sundre with his wife and three daughters.
Dr. Katie Reid and her physician sister Fiona are expected to arrive in Sundre from the U.K. in early winter. They will be joined by Dr. Simon Warwick, Dr. Shaheen Jinah-Rajabali and Dr. Bill Ward.
Warwick and Katie Reid are taking over the Warrens' practice for the first eight months of 2013. Katie Reid was brought up in rural Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She studied medicine at the University of Glasgow and subsequently completed her family physician training in Glasgow before moving to Edinburgh.
Warwick completed his medical training at the University of Wales in Cardiff, and has a post-graduate diploma in sport and exercise medicine from the University of Wales Institute. He previously worked as a regimental medical officer for the British Army providing care to soldiers and their families in the United Kingdom and overseas.
Fiona Reid is originally from the northeast of Scotland. She did her training at Edinburgh University and spent a year working as a doctor in New Zealand. She returned to general practice training in Edinburgh and spent the last two years practising in Scotland, both rurally and in the city.
Jinah-Rajabali is a family physician who graduated from University College London in 1995. Three years later she completed her training as a family physician in Oxfordshire. She specializes in family planning, pregnancy care and women's health as well as providing general medical services.
Dr. Bill Ward, who is moving to Sundre with his wife Jill and daughter Jennifer, has been practising as a family physician in Blackpool, England for 22 years. In 2004, he earned a diploma in practical dermatology from Cardiff University, Wales.
As well, Sundre will witness the arrival in mid-winter of Dr. Balaji Avula who also comes from England. He will be joined by his wife Dr. Bharathi Chadive who has just finished her physician training. She is expected to join her husband next summer.
And finally there is Dr. David Smith, a general practitioner and family physician who grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. After finishing school, he spent a year in Liege, Belgium on a Rotary Exchange. Smith then returned to Cape Town, South Africa to study medicine. He spent six years at the University of Cape Town before returning to Johannesburg to complete his internship and training.
All new arrivals say they are looking forward to embracing the Canadian lifestyle and hope to make a valued contribution to the community.
"I have not seen the community move as many doctors at once. This is the first time it has been a real concentrated effort to get as many as we needed."Gerald Ingeveld, committee chairman
