The issues surrounding doctor coverage in Burns Lake are worsening as the days go by, but Northern Health (NH) officials are committed to meet the challenges.
In December, village residents were concerned that the retirement of a physician would leave too large a workload for remaining physicians in covering 10,000 people.
MIchael McMillan, chief operating officer, confirmed Friday that NH has now received resignations from all the physicians Burn Lake -- two for family reasons, one retirement and two who believe the workload will be more than they can bear. All resignations are effective April 29.
"NH is working with physicians there to put resources around them and bring locums (substitute doctors) in, and providing services by nurse practioners, to help the situation," McMillan said.
"We are absolutely committed to ensuring medical services, the hospital and the emergency unit remain in Burns Lake. We are developing both short-term and medium-term plans to ensure future stability there."
He added NH, the physicians in Burns Lake and Ministry of Health are working well together to put a different model in place, focused on supporting physicians, so that it becomes a much more attractive location to recruit to in the future.
"I am confident we will get through this difficult period," said McMillan.
Prince George-Omineca MLA John Rustad (Liberal) believes the biggest issue in Burns Lake is the hospital itself.
"It needs to be replaced, and it's our number one capital priority. As part of the replacement, we hope to bring the doctors under one roof," said Rustad, who's been meeting with NH and provincial government officials regarding the urgency to replace the aging hospital.
"There's a lot of concern in Burns Lake," said Rustad, who will hold a town hall meeting March 15 for the community to discuss health care and the proposed replacement hospital.
