Walk-in clinic dilemma still on charts Oliver physicians are still discussing how to effectively service patients who don’t have family doctors in town. Finding a doctor in Oliver who’s taking new patients is a rarity, and people who need to see one for a non-emergency can end up “in a pickle.” This has prompted some people to question why Oliver doesn’t have a walk-in clinic. Mayor Ron Hovanes said he is scheduled to meet with the hospital’s chief of staff to talk about the doctor issue. “I believe it is a real concern for everyone including the doctors we now have. They can only take on so many patients and they also need doctors who can fill in (for them) in their absence.” When Hovanes was previously on council the Town worked together with Osoyoos in a number of attempts to recruit new doctors. He explained there are many issues when trying to attract rural doctors, including emergency pay, on-call hours and the ability to be a general practitioner in a small town. Hovanes said he wants the Town to offer any assistance it can to attract new physicians to the community. As for a walk-in clinic, the mayor said council would support anything that would provide better medical services and care in Oliver. Doctor Steve Evans said they’ve talked about how to manage people who don’t have family physicians in town. One idea is having a second physician at the hospital for non-emergency cases. Evans said the emergency department does act as a “default walk-in clinic,” where people who need to see a doctor can do so. But as for a stand-alone clinic in Oliver, there has to be sufficient demand, he noted. Evans said he doesn’t believe there is the demand for such a clinic right now. Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater said a walk-in clinic sounds like a great idea to service the need of locals and summer visitors. But it’s a question of how to pay for it (and how to staff it). He agreed that finding someone to staff the clinic would be a challenge considering that existing physicians have full practices while putting in shifts at the hospital. Slater said it’s a tough situation, noting that Oliver and Osoyoos have been trying to recruit new doctors for some time. “It’s getting harder in rural communities to attract doctors because they want all the amenities (of a big city).” The MLA stated the province does pay rural doctors more than what physicians make in downtown Vancouver. But not many doctors want to move to a small town. Slater noted that West Kelowna has 60,000 people, but does not have a walk-in clinic. So how could a walk-in clinic in Oliver be financially justified when West Kelowna doesn’t have one? Slater questioned. The village of Keremeos has a walk-in clinic at its medical centre, but Slater said it services patients from all over the Similkameen, including Hedley and Cawston.