Interior Health has announced that two new physicians are joining the local health care team at the Slocan Community Health Centre.
Dr. Svet Gueordjev and Dr. Sean Wachtel started seeing patients Tuesday. They join long-time New Denver physician Dr. Chuck Burkholder in providing local primary care services and coverage for the community’s 24/7 emergency department.
“This is great news for people and families in communities that rely on services at the Slocan Community Health Centre,” says Kootenay West MLA Katrine Conroy. “I would like to extend a warm welcome to the new physicians and applaud the ongoing efforts to ensure we are stabilizing health services in New Denver.”
The three physicians have signed an 18-month contract that will allow Interior Health to maintain all current services and continue primary care planning discussions with the Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice physician group and other key stakeholders. IH’s ongoing priority is to ensure long-term sustainable services that meet the needs of patients who access services at Slocan Community Health Centre, the health authority said in a prepared statement.
“Our local communities stepped up in a big way to help find new physicians to support local health care services,” says New Denver Mayor Leonard Casley. “We look forward to building on this recent success to make sure people in New Denver and surrounding areas have access to the care they need at our health centre.”
The physicians will work under a shared practice model, which means patients with booked appointments will see the physician who is working at the clinic at the time of their appointment. The process to book an appointment remains the same: patients call the health centre at 250-358-7211.
“Interior Health would like to acknowledge Dr. Burkholder, local elected officials and the broader community for their tremendous efforts in recruiting additional physicians for patients in the Slocan Valley,” says an IH news release. “We would also like to thank the Ministry of Health and Kootenay Boundary Division of Family Practice for their work and support in the successful recruitment of new physicians.”
