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Dr. Butcher moves into physician house in McLennan
Susan Thompson
for South Peace News
Dr. Shaun Butcher and his family have moved into the physician recruitment and retention house in McLennan.
“We’re using it as part of retention. We’re struggling to have enough physicians for the region, so it’s important to retain the physicians we already have,” explains Smoky River Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee chair Myrna Lanctot.
Dr. Butcher was not able to find another suitable house for his family, prompting the region to offer him the physician recruitment house.
Dr. Butcher is currently renting the house from physician recruitment. The doctor and his wife and children moved in to the house the week of Sept. 25.
Dr. Butcher was welcomed to the community in February of 2008 when he decided to join the team at the Falher Medical Clinic. The doctor had originally come from South Africa and signed on to work in Grande Cache, but decided to work in Falher after completing a two-week evaluation with the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons.
“We immediately fell in love with the people and area so we decided to stay here,” Dr. Butcher told the Express in 2008.
There is still a year and a half left on Dr. Butcher’s contract.
McLennan Mayor Don Regier says the region has made it a priority to make sure there are living arrangements attractive to doctors available.
“We realized some of the housing in McLennan was not up to type of housing doctors wanted. So we decided to go ahead and purchase a house, and give doctors the option to rent, and if they chose, they could buy the house later on,” Regier explains.
“It’s really a nice house. It’s very close to town, but yet it’s sort of in a rural setting. There is lots of freedom and privacy, with room for children to play and space for guests.”
The house was originally purchased to attract new doctors, but like Lanctot, Regier also feels retention is important.
“There’s a shortage of doctors so we need to try to keep whatever doctors we can in town,” he says.
Having attractive housing is even more important to prevent doctors from being wooed over to other nearby communities.
“It’s a very competitive market,” explains Regier.
“We’re competing with High Prairie. We also just found out Wabasca is hiring doctors at well over the price we offer and are giving them cars and all kinds of other incentives.”
Regier adds that the town of McLennan would support housing anywhere in Smoky River Region.
“The house was not just purchased by the town, but was purchased in a partnership between five different local municipalities,” he says. “It’s a good example of a partnership that works. We appreciate the help of the other councils in supporting this.”
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