Three family doctors will be opening practices at a new medical centre in High River as part of a new model designed to pair every resident with a primary care provider.
The physicians will be establishing their practices in the Charles Clark Medical Centre, a new medical clinic set to open in September 2011, which will help alleviate the waiting list for those seeking a family doctor.
Dr. Nicole Roper of Calgary is one of the new additions to the clinic and she is eager to get settled in the foothills.
“I’m very excited,” said Roper, who is currently finishing her residency and will set up her practice at the Charles Clark Medical Centre this fall.
The clinic is currently under construction in Charles Clark Park in the south part of High River.
Funding for the construction of the $6 million building was paid for by a collaborative effort of 18 local physicians. Partnerships with the Town of High River and the MD of Foothills also helped provide financing, along with contributions from the High River Hospital Foundation and the local Rotary Club.
Dubbed the “High River Model,” the new clinic offers incentives to attract family doctors in exchange for a commitment they practice in the town for at least five years.
These include lower rents, zero start-up costs, and help with some of the equipment costs. It is a potentially appealing offer to many new medical school graduates swimming in student debt, said Dr. Ron Gorsche, one of the High River physicians who spearheaded the project.
“I think this will be an attractive solution for young doctors who want to practice in a rural community,” Gorsche said.
The incentives provided at the new clinic are appealing, Roper said.
“Having a nice, new medical centre to work in is definitely a plus. I don’t really have to do much in the way of organization,” she said. “I think it will be an easy way to start into practice.”
Established local physicians will join the new recruits at the 22,000-square-foot medical clinic, which has room for eight new doctors. The space can accommodate up to 11 physicians in total.
Roper said she is looking forward to the mentorship provided by working alongside experienced local physicians at the new clinic.
“The staff that I will be working with are very supportive and they enjoy teaching. Being a new grad, it’s great to have them to look up to,” she said.
One of the stipulations in the High River model is new family doctors work at the High River Hospital as well, which is fine with Roper. The hospital does not have specialized emergency doctors or hospitalists, so patients are seen by the local family physicians.
The idea for the new medical clinic came about three years ago when there was a sudden doctor shortage in High River, Gorsche said.
“With the hospital becoming busier, we needed physicians to help share the burden and reduce burnout issues with our older physicians,” Gorsche explained.
Gorsche estimated there are about 4,000 people who do not have access to a family doctor in High River, a town with a population of almost 12,000.
“We’re hoping to recruit another five doctors over the next five years,” Gorsche said, adding the hope is to pair every High River resident in need of a primary care provider with a family doctor.
Dr. Keith Spackman, chief of staff at the High River General Hospital, said the Charles Clark Medical Centre should reduce emergency department pressures.
“Clinics in town are all so full that if patients are sick, they can’t see their family doctors in a timely manner,” Spackman said. “So they end up coming to the emergency department.”
At the moment, the emergency department handles more than 20,000 visits every year. One-third of those patients do not have a family doctor, Spackman said.
Spackman said he is hopeful the High River Model will be adapted in other rural Alberta communities and, in turn, will entice more medical students to go into family medicine.
“We’re offering them mentorship with established physicians, and they don’t have to go through setting up a practice on their own,” Spackman said. “We’re offering them a community that wants them here.”
Eldon Couey, one of Gorsche’s patients and the former High River mayor, said he is excited for the addition of the three new family doctors in the community.
“I think it’s very important to have a family doctor,” Couey said. “If you have to depend on coming to the emergency department all the time, you see a different doctor every time you come in here… So when you go to see somebody, they don’t know that they’ve treated you for such and such in the past.”
