The Central Interior Rural Division of Family Practice (CIRD) is pleased with the community response to date in its Tick Tock Find Us a Doc campaign.
Launched Nov. 16 to recruit physicians and improve local access to primary care, the initiative runs until March 31, with all participants eligible to win some great cash prizes – and some weekly prizes have already been awarded.
The campaign invites BC residents to join in its search for family doctors for the region and has had a great public response so far.
“Participation by local residents online has been impressive,” says CIRD executive director Trevor Barnes. “We’re only two months into the campaign and we’ve already received thirteen doctors’ names for consideration.
“If we keep this momentum going, we’ll reach our goal and will have a solid list of doctors to help fill current and future positions in the area.”
CIRD project manager Jill Zimonick says the public support from both individuals and businesses to improve primary care in the area has been tremendous.
“Everybody is really wanting to see this succeed and to see our community be well populated with physicians, now and into the future.”
“The greatest aspect about the physician names that we have received is that these are very high-quality leads because they are coming from people that live in the area, so they have gone through that first stage of ‘screening’. People are referring names of doctors who have either a connection in the area or are showing an interest in the area.”
These quality connections could be family ties, friends, or maybe they have lived in the Cariboo before or have talked about living there, she adds.
Everyone who participates in the contests, either on Facebook or by submitting a qualified physician’s name is entered into a grand prize draw of $3,000 cash, she explains.
Zimonick says this is a change from the original plan of a $4,000 vacation package – through a community sponsor — as organizers determined cash prizes are more popular in online contests.
Another $1,000 in cash will be awarded to each participant who puts forward a name that leads CIRD to recruit a new doctor for the Cariboo region, she adds.
While the original plan was to split $4,000 between individuals submitting successful recruitments, Zimonick explains this change ensures anyone who succeeds in helping find and secure new physicians gets $1,000, regardless of how many are found.
“These are names of doctors that people have submitted. We haven’t yet followed up with them [therefore] we haven’t necessarily qualified any to move here, but we definitely have 13 good, solid leads.
“The fact that these are quality leads makes us even more hopeful that they will be more … than just regular recruitment efforts.”
All campaign prizes are funded through sponsorships from local businesses, she adds.
Zimonick says other ongoing prizes can be earned by contest participants, such as activities running weekly on their Facebook page.
As of Feb. 6, weekly draws have seen seven lucky winners of $100 gift cards for redeeming at local restaurants or grocery stores.
Contest details and ‘ways to play’ can be found at www.face book.com/ticktock findusadoc.
