Two family physicians are committing to work in Squamish for three years after receiving funding from a provincial program designed to help communities cope with B.C.'s severe shortage of family doctors.Health authorities with the Family Physicians for British Columbia (FPs4BC) program identified Squamish as one of more than 35 communities across the province that have a serious need for doctors, and West Vancouver-Garibaldi MLA Joan McIntyre announced on Monday (May 5) that two family physicians will receive money from the program to set up their own practice here."I'm heartened by some of this news, and some dollars going into the corridor to help," McIntyre said.It's unclear whether the news means more choices for residents since McIntyre couldn't confirm whether the doctors will be new to Squamish or currently work here - although she did say it's likely they're already in the community.Nonetheless, Mayor Ian Sutherland hailed the program's funding as a boon for the town."I think it's a very important thing for the community I know our doctors are very busy with their existing case loads," he said.Sutherland added that while he knows some doctors have moved here for the location and the lifestyle, he has heard about some Squamish citizens having difficulty finding family physicians, which is representative of a doctor shortage "right across the province."According to a recent report derived from the Canadian Medical Association and Stats Canada, Squamish has 1.7 doctors per 1,000 people. And the British Columbia Medical Association (BCMA), a partner in the FPs4BC program along with the provincial Ministry of Health, reports that in 2006-07 B.C. had only 1.107 general practitioners (GPs) per 1,000 people, and 2.005 GPs and specialists per 1,000 people.The BCMA also says about 200,000 people across the province can't find a regular family doctor, which forces them into walk-in clinics and costly or unnecessary hospital and emergency room visits, leading to poor consistency of care.The FPs4BC program is one important way of starting to correct this shortage, said Vancouver Coastal Health spokesperson Viviana Zanocco. Through it, family physicians receive up to $100,000 each to cover the costs of establishing and running a medical practice and paying off student loans. Launched in June 2007, the $10-million initiative has been designed to fund 90 family doctors in communities in need. So far, 56 B.C. doctors have been drawn to new areas or kept in their communities with money from FPs4BC. The most recent two are the first in this area, McIntyre said."We're really thankful the province has set up this program," Zanocco said, adding that she thinks it will be helpful to Squamish. According to Zanocco, the provincial government is also funding more places in medical schools and other programs to plan for the care of the aging population. But, she added, she thinks FPs4BC will be the "most successful" way to draw more physicians into general practices, "because, quite frankly, it's about money."
