ROB MURRAY: I speak with Dr. Kendra Barrick from the Bow Valley Primary Care Network. We’re here for an update on the family physician shortage here in the Bow Valley. To put things into perspective, I understand the switch from doctors accepting new patients in the Valley to no doctors accepting patients happened fairly quickly, didn’t it?

DR. KENDRA BARRICK: It did. It’s a pretty new challenge and it’s super frustrating for everyone involved. It went from 18 doctors accepting new patients in February of 2021 to  zero, and that was as of February 2022. It’s new, it happened quickly and quite unexpectedly.

RM: I believe the Primary Care Network has been pretty active trying to address the situation. What’s the latest on that?

KB: There are a lot of people involved in helping with this issue. The Primary Care Network and the network of local family physicians are working behind the scenes with various community partners and stakeholders on initiatives and strategies. This is going to take time. It is taking time to identify and implement, but right now we’re asking the public to help support our efforts in the small ways.

RM: One of those ways is by sharing a new website you’ve set up?

KB: There are a lot of job opportunities in the Bow Valley. The public can help support this by sharing the new web page. This is a summary of listings of openings, and an outline of the benefits of living and working in the Bow Valley. Since we’ve implemented this, we’ve already seen a response after this plus a social media push. It’s a really easy way for the public to support our recruitment efforts.

RM: Are there other ways the public can support physicians in the Bow Valley right now beyond the recruitment efforts?

KB: The other ways that our community could help us out is to please continue to be patient and respectful towards the healthcare professionals and the office managers. This is super frustrating, I really feel for our patients and we’re really trying the best that we can. If you have an appointment and you don’t need it anymore, just call us to cancel it. I can guarantee we’ll fill it. Showing up on time, or calling us if you’re stuck behind one of those pesky trains, prioritizing your health care concerns, and if you have a really long list of concerns just being willing to wait for a follow-up appointment to address those other concerns.

RM: Something else I’ve heard in a conversation recently is that there are times where people move away from the Bow Valley but they’ve kept their local physician here. Is that a real thing?

KB: It definitely is, and there is this tourism component that’s longstanding. We have a lot of people who like to come to the Bow Valley and see their family doctor, or they’re secondary residents in the Bow Valley and have a doctor here. Now, with the cost of living skyrocketing and all of those extra costs, we are seeing more people leaving the Bow Valley for all of those situations. If someone does have a home in another community, we’re asking our patients to consider if they have a doctor in that other community to switch to them, or just to even entertain that idea. We have been able to offer some warm handoffs to patients to another physician s in Calgary or in another community if they have made the move.

Filed under: Banff, Bow Valley PCN, Canmore