Financial aid for Delburne medical clinic a sign of Alberta doctor shortage

Hence the request to not just County council, but the Village and the Delburne Economic Expansion Program (DEEP), to help with splitting the deficit amount.

Thus, County council unanimously approved a temporary $4,000 extra per month for August through December of this year, with the other two parties paying the other two-thirds.

There is optimism on the horizon, however, as two international doctors are committed to providing services in Delburne. But they’re unable to start until later this year as they undergo assessments at other medical facilities, with the aforementioned deficit being incurred until their arrival.

“It’s truly hard to fill some of these spots. A lot of people like to live in the city, and lots don’t know what they’re missing until they’re in that rural town,” says Red Deer County Mayor Jim Wood. “The Delburne clinic has lots of people it has to turn away, and the ramifications of that is people wind up in a hospital emergency room which itself is already overloaded and isn’t the correct place to handle a problem someone would normally go to the doctor for.”

But, he says, this isn’t a problem isolated to Delburne or even Alberta.

Wood believes that when you add in the competition between so many rural communities to attract doctors, the incentives each one offers really start to matter.

Wood says the province should significantly beef up its number of training seats for doctors, and for those who have the power to do so, tuition and student loan relief should be on the table as well.

Asked if he’s worried other municipalities’ clinics will come a-calling for financial aid, Wood says no.

“It’s definitely something we’re always aware of, but the need was large enough in this unique case. That’s part of what Red Deer County does, and that’s why we have such good relationships with municipalities near us; we look at what we can do to help.”

The fact the DMC serves County residents doesn’t hurt, he adds. The DMC is the only clinic the County financially supports.

Meantime, Delburne Mayor Tim Wilson is quick to ensure that the village is very grateful for what it has, but he believes the system needs to be opened up and looked at closer, from education to retirement, and taking care of citizens, “from cradle to grave.”

“We have a hospital north of us 35 minutes (Stettler), south 35 minutes (Three Hills), and west about 35 minutes (Red Deer), all of which are taxed to the max. We have the clinic here which has 2,000 patients, but only one full-time doctor at the moment,” he points out, noting the Village donated the land and built the building to help attract a doctor there.

The building was constructed to facilitate urgent care, he says, meaning it could one day be used to take additional pressure off those hospitals by offerings services such as x-ray.

“We have two challenges. One is short-term five-alarm emergencies, and having enough doctors to deal with them. The other is the lack of decisions and planning 10 years ago, and so we have to be sure we aren’t creating those same types of challenges for 10 years from now,” says Wilson.

“I’m going to be doing a callout to local businesses, banks, retailers and companies with record profits hoping some have budgets and can look at scholarships. We always look at attraction and retention, but I’m looking at training and retention. That’s the most likely way to retain them in our area.”

Wilson believes the province seems open to tackling the challenges before it, and to new ideas. The Village has met with provincial ministers from the area such as Adriana LaGrange (Red Deer-North, Health) and Devin Dreeshen (Innisfail-Sylvan Lake, Transportation and Economic Corridors) to try urging the ball forward.

“I’m really grateful to DEEP and to the County who’ve stepped up to help. We serve their residents too. They’ve been fantastic and we have such a good relationship with them.”

rdnewsNOW reached out to the owners of Delburne Medical Clinic, but did not hear back.

Dr. Muti Kauchali is the lone full-time doctor there, but he also operates the Apollo Health Centre in Blackfalds.

Last September, the Kauchalis told rdnewsNOW, “It was my vision to bring accessible health care to a community in need and that’s what I’ve done in Delburne as well. To me, that’s more fulfilling than going to a clinic in Red Deer and working there.”

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Financial aid for Delburne medical clinic a sign of Alberta doctor shortage

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