‘There is a little bit of panic’: Lumby reeling from doctor shortage

The Lumby Health Centre could host multiple family practices but since 2014, they’ve seen the number of physicians working in the community on a permanent basis dwindle from three down to one.

It’s a situation that’s forcing some patients to travel to Vernon for medical treatment.

“Dr. Wheeldon retired two years ago and Dr. Wright moved in June of this year into Vernon so that has left us with Dr. Barss and he is really busy. He’s got a big workload,” Lumby and District Health Services Society chair Jean Latval said.

With only one family practice serving thousands in Lumby and surrounding rural areas, some are calling the situation dire.

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“We think it is very critical. We’ve struggled through the summer with a couple of locums very briefly but come flu season, it’s going to be really difficult,” Latval said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We think it is very critical. We've struggled through the summer with a couple of locums very briefly but come flu season, it's going to be really difficult," Latval said.

The local health services society is now spearheading efforts to bring a new family practice to town.

However, doctor recruitment has proved more challenging than they first expected.

“There’s a lot of competition with a lot of incentive packages,” Lumby and District Health Services Society vice chair, Elinor Warner said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There's a lot of competition with a lot of incentive packages," Lumby and District Health Services Society vice chair, Elinor Warner said.

There are other impacts as well. Fewer doctors mean fewer xrays are being ordered, putting that service in a precarious financial position.

“We are paying an xray technician to come and work here all day and perhaps do one xray,” Warner said.

The village is doing what it can to help with recruitment, pledging up to $15,000 to help a new physician with moving expenses.

“There is a little bit of panic. Obviously there are businesses that count on it, the pharmacy and other businesses that count on having a doctor in the community,” Lumby mayor Kevin Acton said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There is a little bit of panic. Obviously there are businesses that count on it, the pharmacy and other businesses that count on having a doctor in the community," Lumby mayor Kevin Acton said.

For now, Lumby is left to hope that a MD will be attracted by the outdoor recreation possiblities here and pick them over other areas hoping to attract doctors.

The health services society recently interviewed three doctors. However, two of them would not be ready to start until next year and the third was also loking at three other southern Interior communities.