With the looming retirement of its medical director, efforts are underway to save Peachland’s only medical clinic.
Beach Avenue Medical Clinic is slated to close on March 31, when current owner and medical director Dr. John Brinkerhoff retires.
The four other doctors, who currently practice at the medical clinic, have all announced they are re-locating to other communities.
READ MORE: Okanagan community faces losing all of its doctors
On its website, Beach Avenue Medical Clinic has issued the following statement:
“The clinic’s current medical director is retiring and Beach Avenue Medical Clinic will cease operations as of March 31, 2019. Our goal is the best and easiest continuity of care. All of our other physicians will be moving their practices to other clinic locations so no patient will lose their family doctor. We are hoping that prior to that we will be able to secure a new medical director and that physician coverage in Peachland would be seamless.”
Beach Avenue Medical Clinic office manager Lisa Guderyan told Global News Monday that a physician from West Kelowna has volunteered to take on the medical director role after March 31.
While that doctor wouldn’t be practicing out of that clinic, Guderyan said that by taking on the role of medical director, recruitment efforts could continue.
She added that by keeping the clinic “open” technically, it would be easier to find a doctor or two to start practicing there.