THE NORTHWEST has a replacement ear, nose and throat specialist and she could be at work by spring.
Dr. Michelle Bosch, who is from South Africa, visited the area in the fall and has now committed herself to replacing Dr. Ivan Jardine who left last fall.
“She’ll be starting in Terrace and the North West Health Service Delivery Area as soon as immigration and other requirements are completed,” said Dr. Jaco Fourie, the area’s medical director for the Northern Health Authority.
“We hope that she’ll arrive here by April.”
With the departure of Jardine last fall, patients requiring specialty ear, nose and throat care have to either travel to Prince George or go down south for treatment.
Jardine was also originally from South Africa and decided to leave after a change in licensing requirements meant he would have to take a qualifying exam instead of having a practice assessment.
Bosch’s pending arrival solidifies something considered fairly unique for a smaller city within B.C. – there are more specialists practising here than there are general practitioners.
As of the last current count provided by the Northern Health Authority, there are 20 specialists here and 16 general practitioners.
Because not all of the general practitioners work full time, the full-time equivalent works out to 12 general practitioners.
n addition, there is a full-time emergency room physician at Mills Memorial Hospital and one half- time general physician.
The news that a replacement ear, nose and throat specialist replacement has been found was welcomed by the chair of the Dr. REM Lee Hospital Foundation which works closely with the Northern Health Authority to find ways of expanding and enhancing health care services here by assisting with the purchase of medical equipment.
“Having the number of specialists here that we have is so important for the region. It’s not just Terrace. We have a regional population of 75,000 people and they come here [to Mills Memorial Hospital]. It’s the region that benefits,” said Ron Bartlett last week.
The more specialists in place here means that less people have to travel to either Prince George or Vancouver for service and treatment, he added.
Reducing the need to travel is important particularly for the region’s large First Nations community which, at 50 per cent of the population, is the highest ratio in the country, Bartlett said.
“In the First Nations culture support is important so when a person is in the hospital, you can see 10 more people there to support them,” he said.
“If those people had to go to Prince George or down south, they wouldn’t have that support,” he explained.