Letters / Correspondance
Can J Rural Med vol 3 (1):46
Please send us your comments and opinions. Letters to the editor should be addressed to:
Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine, Box 1086, Shawville QC J0X 2Y0; fax 819 647-2845; email: cjrm@fox.nstn.ca
© 1998 Society of Rural Physicians of Canada
Correction
Congratulations on maintaining an interesting and spirited journal. However, I note that the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine has achieved a remarkable feat: it has moved Halifax to Newfoundland (see article by Worrall and colleagues: Can J Rural Med 1996; 2(4):169-75). Although I am sure our hospitable province would be happy to accommodate this lovely city, Memorial University and our Faculty of Medicine prefer to remain in Newfoundland's provincial capital, St. John's.
M. Ian Bowmer
Dean, Faculty of Medicine
Memorial University of Newfoundland
St. John's, Nfld.
Editor's note:
Attention readers: Memorial University of Newfoundland (M.U.N.) is co-hosting, with the SRPC, the Rural/Remote Medicine Conference in May 1998 ( see page 3) Do NOT go to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The conference is in St. John's, Newfoundland, definitely home of M.U.N.
Emergency on-call funding
The Council of the District of Sparwood, BC, has made the very difficult decision to fund on-call doctors to ensure that we do not lose our emergency department at the Sparwood Health Care Centre. Council feels very strongly that this is the responsibility of the provincial health ministry but so far has been unable to convince the ministry of the urgency of the situation.
It has become increasingly evident over the past few months that Sparwood's Health Care Centre is in jeopardy of losing its emergency facility because of the lack of coverage by physicians in our community.
With the shortage of physicians, our doctors are are forced into a 1 in 3 on-call situation, which means that every third day they are responsible for a full 24-hour coverage. We cannot have our physicians burning out.
Our doctors have been actively pursuing a fourth physician for the past year, and although there have been temporary placements, our GPs have been unsuccessful in keeping a doctor on a fulltime basis. At present, there is only enough work to keep the fourth physician busy for 2 to 3 days a week, and with no payment guarantee for on-call service, it is not economically viable for a doctor to remain. For example, we presently have a temporary physician who is doing on-call in Alberta on the weekends because that province offers a guaranteed on-call payment. British Columbia does not provide this service.
There are communities with similar problems in our province; however, we feel our situation is unique. Besides the local residents' needs, we have 5 mines in the vicinity that employ approximately 2400 men and women, and we have a definite responsibility to maintain an emergency facility for them. Also, the highway from the Alberta border to Sparwood and through to Fernie, BC, is often treacherous in both winter and summer. This year alone there have been a number of accidents that required immediate use of our emergency facility. Although Fernie is only 32 km down the highway, winter driving conditions are often such that it is not advisable to be on the road, and in fact the road is occasionally closed for hours at a time.
The District of Sparwood sees this as a critical situation that requires immediate attention and will continue to pursue the British Columbia Ministry of Health to acknowledge the situation and provide funding accordingly. I emphasize that this is a very serious situation and the District is treating it as such and has therefore taken immediate action.
Cal McDougall
Mayor
District of Sparwood
Sparwood, BC
