For the first time in five years, Mackenzie boasts a full complement of doctors.
Two new doctors began work in the community this month, bringing the total number of physicians to four plus a nurse practitioner.
Patients will benefit from the stability of a full staff, according to Barb Crook, Mackenzie health service administrator for Northern Health.
"People can now pick a family doctor and stick with the same doctor," Crook said. "For the last five years a lot of people will say, 'Every time I come to the clinic, I have to see somebody different, tell my story again,' and that gets very frustrating."
Dr. Dan Penman and Dr. Colin Mackenzie started on July 3. They join Dr. James Card, Dr. Jean Pierre Kabongo and nurse practitioner Kate Vanwely.
The lack of doctors in Mackenzie reached a critical point in February 2010 when the emergency room had to be shut down for 48 hours because there was no physician able to work. With four doctors on staff now, that won't be a problem in the future.
Like some other smaller communities, Mackenzie pays its doctors a contract rate, rather than the usual fee-for-service model. This means doctors will have a guaranteed income based on the number of hours they work, not the number of patients they see.
Mackenzie began offering the contract rate in May of 2010 and in just over two years the community accomplished its goal of reaching full staffing.
Card was the lead recruiter for the community. He made visits to medical residents working in Prince George to extol the virtues of heading up Highway 97 to start their practices. The District of Mackenzie provided material for Card to distribute and helped pay some of his travel costs on the recruitment trips.
With other communities in the north also on the hunt for doctors, Crook said some of the benefits of working in Mackenzie include the improving local economy, the family-friendly nature of the town and the fact that all the medical facilities -- from the clinic to the ER to the lab -- are in one place.
"The one-stop shop is good for the public and it's good for the clinicians," Crook said.
