Merritt
Rolling hills, sparkling lakes, and endless hours of sunshine every year make Merritt a haven for four-season outdoor recreation. The summer offers some of the best sailing and windsurfing in North America, and nearby Nicola Lake offers endless choices for water activities. The area is also known for the beautiful horseback riding opportunities as well as camping, and fishing. An almost endless trail system renowned for mountain biking and hiking, is also at your fingertips. Winter brings champaign powder and opportunities for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, and curling. Merritt enjoys a thriving arts community, with an art gallery located in Merritt’s historic Court House, and an active Arts Council, the communities’ arts are flourishing.
Practice Details:
The Medical Clinic: Join a congenial group of family physicians at a modern clinic that is fully computerized and paperless with MedAccess EMR. Located in the downtown core, the office has 6 examination rooms plus a minor procedures room. Office hours are 0800-1700 M-F, with flexible work hours and virtual care options. A strong clinic team manages the business side of practices, while overhead is shared amongst practitioners. Opt to take over an existing panel recently optimized through the panel management quality improvement initiative or develop a new one.
Nicola Valley Hospital: With 8 acute-care beds and a new 10 bed emergency department serving a population of approximately 12,000 people, the hospital provides inpatient and outpatient services for laboratory, ECG, radiology, physiotherapy, spirometry, mental health, and opioid antagonist therapy. The facility features an upgraded staff room and recently renovated private physician lounge along with an on-call suite. Local physicians with hospital privileges rotate through inpatient call, receiving the inpatient care initiative bridge funding supplement, and self-determine frequency of ED shifts within a roster than includes regular locum physicians. In this rural community, CCFP-EM/FP-EM is not mandatory to practice emergency medicine.
Health Services: Merritt currently has 6 physicians and one nurse practitioner and is developing a primary care network in partnership with First Nations, with a recent addition of Aboriginal Patient Navigators. Area services include home care, public health, MHSU, MAiD, mobile mammography, diabetes education, dietitian coaching, community paramedicine, Indigenous health programs, foot care, kinesiology, and more. Interior Health operates Coquihalla Gillis House with 74 long-term care beds. Real Time Virtual Support offers immediate specialist consultations to support rural generalists in clinic and hospital. A High Acuity Response Team can be deployed to transport patients for tertiary care in Kamloops or Kelowna or via air ambulance to Vancouver.
Trade an hour per day in urban city traffic for 2 extra weeks per year to play outside in this family friendly community. #LoveTheLifestyle
** This job posting is for a position covered by the Provincial Health Officer’s mandatory COVID-19 vaccination order and selected applicant(s) must comply with the requirements of the order.
Qualifications:
-
Eligible for The College of Family Physicians of Canada Cert. (CCFP)
-
Eligible for Fellowship with the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC)
-
Doctorate in Medicine
-
Advanced Cardiac Life Support Certification (ACLS)
-
Advanced Trauma Life Support Certification (ATLS)
-
Pediatric Advanced Life Support Certification (PALS)
-
Emergency experience
Call Schedule:
Hours of work:
Flexible
On call requirements:
1:6
Compensation:
Estimated Gross Income
$400,000+
RSA Incentives
Recruitment Incentive: $15,000
Retention Fee Premium: 12.5%
Retention Flat Fee: $18,962.06
Relocation: $9,000-$15,000 (based on move location)
*Incentives are subject to change and current rates are confirmed at time of offer*
Candidates with a BC or Canada student loan may be eligible for loan forgiveness programs.
Rural incentives are subject to change and current rates are confirmed at time of offer
Professional development and rural supports could include: NAVIG8 Emerging Physician Leaders Program for emerging medical leaders • Rural Physician Mentoring Program for physicians new to rural practice • Rural Education Action Plan (REAP) for skills upgrading and advanced training • Real Time Virtual Support pathways (RTVS) for immediate specialist consultations • Rural Emergency Enhancement Fund (REEF) providing up to $65,000 per annum per fee-for-service physician supporting IHA-designated EDs • Rural Retention Program (RRP) funding premium for physicians working in a community covered under the Rural Practice Subsidiary Agreement • Rural and Remote Division of Family Practice membership and local support
Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre:
Merritt currently has 6 physicians working in clinics located in our downtown centre. Clinics are less than 2 kilometers from the hospital. The clinics service a population base of approximately 20,000 people.
Hospital: Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre is a 24-hour Level 1 community hospital with a 24-hour Emergency Room. This facility has eight Acute Care beds, six stretcher beds in the Emergency Room. The hospital also provides inpatient and outpatient services for Laboratory, Electrocardiogram (ECG) Service, Radiology, Physiotherapy, and Spirometry. Additional services include Home Care, Home Support, Public Health, Diabetes and Dietician Teaching, as well as Mental Health services. There is Residential Care facility locate only 3 kilometers from the Hospital.
Kamloops is the nearest tertiary referral site. Hospital transportation is supported by an Ambulance Station that is located on same property as the hospital. In emergency situations, a helicopter and the High Acuity Response Team (HART) are dispatched from Kamloops to transport the patient from the site to an advanced centre for additional acute care.