Community has a hand in hiring two new doctors for Kaslo Victorian Community Health Centre
By Nelson Daily Staff
By Suzy Hamilton, The Nelson Daily
Kaslo Victorian Community Health Centre will maintain 24/7 emergency care by replacing two doctors who begin work April 1.
And both the mayor and Interior Health are hoping that a fresh start and a collaborative approach in the future will ensure long term and consistent health care for Kaslo.
“This has been a successful process from our viewpoint. We are fortunate that Kaslo itself is a very attractive community. (The new doctors) are young, enthusiastic physicians,” said Dr. Alan Stewart, medical director of Interior Health’s community integrated health services.
“We don’t want to be in this position again.”
Although contracts are renewed every one or two years, Stewart said the IH views the new doctors “as a long term relationship.”
Interior Health announced March 11 that it did not renew the contracts of the two physicians who announced six months ago that they would no longer provide 24/7 emergency care at the at the Health Centre.
At the time, in September, IH agreed to collaborate with a Kaslo negotiating team to come up with a way to keep the ER open 24/7 after pressure came from the community.
One of those solutions was to hire new doctors — Dr. Annemarie DeKoker and Dr. Laurren Rodgers will replace Dr. Linda Johannson and Dr. Denis Thibodeau.
Neither doctor seemed too happy about the situation. They both posted letters at the health centre to inform their patients that they are leaving.
“You are likely aware of the difficulties that the physician team has had here trying to maintain services in the clinic and the emergency room,” wrote Dr. Johannson.
“These difficulties have progressed to a point where I feel I can no longer provide safe, appropriate care to my patients and IHA has elected to not renew by contract for services.”
Dr. Johannson said she would help patients transfer records and find a physician in Nelson if they so desired.
Dr. Thibodeau said he will be establishing his own practice in Kaslo in October.
“I would have liked this to be a seamless and uninterrupted transition of your health care but I regret that circumstances did not permit this to be. For this I would like to apologize to my patients.”
Stewart said that patient health care safety, as alleged by Johannson, is not an issue.
“It is important to know that there are no safety concerns.”
Locum coverage will continue to be provided by Dr. Fen Smit. Dr. Janneme Frouws will provide additional locum coverage during the month of April.
All patient records will remain at the Victorian Community Health Centre.
Lay said that the negotiating team centered on the emergency room hours and service, but that other issues — “institutional barriers” — such as ambulance service and the use of technology will be addressed in the future.
He was pleased that Dr. Thibodeau was staying in the community. “Now we have three doctors.”
“Any solution usually means a compromise,” he said.
One of the team’s initiatives will be to educate the public on the efficient use of the emergency room hours of operation and doctors’ schedules he said.
