In a bid to recruit doctors to Kamloops and then keep them here, the Thompson Division of Family Practice has launched a new Champions for Family Medicine program.

Executive Director Tim Shoults says the idea is to partner with local businesses, giving his organization the money it needs to “step up its game” as the doctor shortage isn’t unique to Kamloops.

That is as about 40 per cent of Kamloops’ population is currently without a family doctor – double the provincial average.

“So we really need to do something to stand out in a very crowded field where it seems just about every community in Canada is trying to recruit family physicians,” Shoults said.

“That is where the impetus to get this program organized and launched came from.”

Speaking on NL Newsday, Shoults said the Thompson Division of Family Practice is looking to work with “local, like-minded businesses” to help his organization market Kamloops to out-of-province doctors, encouraging them to relocate and practice family medicine in the region.

“We need to be at multiple forums. We need to be in front of medical students and residents in residency programs all across Western Canada, and we need to be doing sustained marketing to look at physicians that are contemplating relocation and then work to connect them with local physicians here and bring them here for familiarization tours,” Shoults added.

“That physician to physician recruitment, in the end that is the most effective.”

He also noted that while the new funding agreement with the BC government will go a long way to alleviating physicians’ concerns about staying in or joining family practices, the pay model does not specifically draw attention to Kamloops or the surrounding communities.

“What we’re doing is also of benefit to the business community as a whole,” Shoults said.

“If you’re trying to hire a professional to come to this community, and they say, ‘well, what’s the family doctor situation like there?’ That is not a happy story for our business to be able to tell right now. If they can participate towards improving that, they’re investing in their own talent pool as well.”

The campaign, which hopes to raise $150,000, is set to wrap up on B.C. Family Doctor Day next May.

Interested businesses are being told to reach out here.