Interior Health has announced the latest addition to the two physicians working out of Chase, just weeks after residents in the area participated in a day of protest in reaction to the increase in Emergency Centre closures.
As of Sept. 4, Dr. Cornel Barnard will be the latest doctor to set up practice in the Chase Medical Clinic.
The new physician plans to begin working at the clinic three days per week with hopes of increasing his clinic days over the next six months, announced Interior Health.
Barnard will be accepting new patients who are not already in the care of Dr. Gursharan Gill or Dr. Sandeep Sharma and will be providing much-needed support at the Chase Emergency Department.
Since April of this year, Interior Health has issued more than 29 temporary closure notices for the Chase ER, which compares to a total of 16 closure days throughout 2011.
Bryan Redford, community area director for Interior Health, explains that in order to keep the Chase Emergency Department open, at least three physicians are needed at all times.
Redford says Interior Health tries to avoid closing down the centre whenever possible, and works until the last minute to try to fill the gaps.
“Sometimes there is just nothing else we can do,” says Redford.
The lack of adequate health care has many residents in the area concerned and sparked a protest on Aug. 14.
Val Donnelly, Chase resident and one of the protest organizers, would like to see more than three doctors in Chase, explaining how the area once had six physicians working out of the village.
Donnelly plans on organizing more protests in the future, with the hope of getting the attention of the government and getting help for her community.
Her goal is not to simply attract more doctors to Chase, as she agrees that the Interior Health Authority does a good job doing this, but to convince them to stay once they are here.
“Too many of them move away to other areas,” says Donnelly. “We need to figure out why they do not stay here and find solutions to fix this problem.”
Whenever the Chase ER is closed, residents must get emergency service at hospitals in Salmon Arm or Kamloops.
Interior Health acknowledges the hard times that Chase residents have been facing recently.
“We would like to thank residents for their ongoing patience, recognizing the recent changes in our physician group and the resulting impact on ER hours of operation during the spring and sumer,” says the Interior Health in a press release. “We anticipate the arrivals of Dr. Barnard and Dr. Gill will bring stability to our ER services in the long-term.”
Interior Health also credits the Chase mayor and council for their hard work in assisting with the recruitment of physicians to the area.
