Image: Dr. Allison Salter / Chilliwack residents Dr. Allison Salter (left) and Elly Meyerink, pictured at a recruitment booth at the Family Medicine Forum, have worked extensively to help recruit health care professionals to Chilliwack. To keep Chilliwack competitive, multiple stakeholders have collaborated to create the “Essential Healthcare Workers Accommodation Program.” It's an initiative meant to attract new healthcare workers from elsewhere, and to support current healthcare providers working in Chilliwack, by providing low-cost accommodations while they work here in Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Recruiting health care professionals

Health and business partners work together to recruit health care professionals to Chilliwack

Jun 18, 2024 | 9:46 AM

CHILLIWACK — There’s a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to bring health care professionals to Chilliwack.

It takes eager, enthusiastic people, like Chilliwack GP Dr. Allison Salter, or Elly Meyerink from the recruitment side of the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, who are willing to roll out the welcome mat to physicians and other professionals who are contemplating a move to the picturesque surroundings of Chilliwack as an ideal venue in which to set up a practice.

Case in point, a partnership between the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, the Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO) and other Chilliwack stakeholders has been instrumental in bringing multiple family doctors to Chilliwack to address the ongoing need for GPs in the community.

According to a news release from the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, doctors are in short supply across the province, of which family medicine is said to be the greatest area of need. While the division reports that 14 new family doctors were recruited to the Chilliwack area in 2023, including 10 doctors who permanently relocated and four locum (temporary) physicians, the impact of existing doctors retiring and the increasing level of work for doctors that remain has resulted in just two net new family doctors in the community.

The division says approximately 2,000 additional residents managed to sign up with their own family doctor in 2023 compared to 2022; however, Chilliwack’s ever-growing population has likely absorbed those gains. Moreover, there are barriers to attracting permanent and temporary doctors and healthcare workers to smaller communities, but a major obstacle involves a lack of short-term housing.

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To keep Chilliwack competitive, the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, Chilliwack Medical Staff Association, Fraser Health Authority, Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation, and Algra Bros. Developments collaborated to create the “Essential Healthcare Workers Accommodation Program.” It’s an initiative meant to attract new healthcare workers from elsewhere and to support current healthcare providers working in Chilliwack.

The program consists of short-term accommodation for those who provide medical leave and vacation coverage, emergency coverage for understaffed areas, as well as accommodation for healthcare workers considering relocating to Chilliwack. For those eligible, the program offers a furnished condominium for $50 per night close to the hospital, on a first-come, first-served basis, a much cheaper alternative to hotels or accommodations at Airbnb and Vrbo.

Image: Supplied, used with permission / The downtown Chilliwack lodging that is used by health care professionals who are working in Chilliwack on a temporary basis. It provides a cheaper alternative than hotels or Airbnb.

Since the program launched two months ago, it has been used by pediatric, internal medicine, and psychiatry specialist doctors who have come to Chilliwack to fill shifts that would otherwise have remained vacant and resulted in gaps in healthcare coverage. Gaps in care can result in increased wait times for patients, increased visits to the Chilliwack General Hospital emergency department, and potentially poorer health outcomes.

“Accessible and reasonably priced accommodation helps draw new doctors into our community where they can experience the city and its amazing surroundings, meet potential colleagues, and envision having a medical practice in Chilliwack,” said Dr. Allison Salter of the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice. “Ultimately, through the combined efforts of local health and business partners, the program’s aim is to positively impact Chilliwack’s recruitment and retention ability and provide for reliable access to health services for the community’s residents.”

The division says the emergence of the accommodation program demonstrates the power of creative community collaboration in developing homegrown healthcare solutions.