St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt has received funding from the province as part of its effort to help rural emergency care access.
A $10-million funding package announced in July 2011 was established to provide financial assistance to rural fee-for-service physicians.
On Feb. 7, the province announced that St. Mary's Hospital's application to receive up to $200,000 in financial assistance was successful.
"There's been a bit of an attrition of rural emergency room physicians," explained St. Mary's medical director Dr. Edward Berinstein. "They're recognizing a need that it is stressful and difficult to do emergency medicine in rural areas."
The medical director added that he hopes the money can be used to compensate doctors working the difficult shifts, such as covering the late-night emergency room. In addition he expressed a degree of optimism that the funding could be used to attract more professionals to the Coast.
The funding package is part of an overall series of investments totalling $180 million, the Ministry of Health announced.
A 2009 memorandum of understanding between the province and the British Columbia Medical Association established the aims of the funding. Half the money is earmarked for access improvements in the provincial healthcare system, while the other half is to be used for recruitment and retention of healthcare employees.
"I know there's been some difficulty in recruiting and retaining physicians in rural areas, and the extra funding assistance provided by the province will ease some of those concerns by helping doctors fully cover their local hospital," said Minister of Children and Family Development Mary McNeil in a statement on behalf of the Minister of Health.
