Three years into a program started to support physician recruitment and retention, Melissa LaPointe provided an update to city council on March 4, 2025.
"This is a good news story, we've been very busy," said LaPointe, who is the Cariboo Chilcotin healthcare landing program coordinator, in her presentation at the council's regular meeting in city hall.
The program was developed starting in December 2021 to help support health care professionals coming to the community to improve recruitment and retention.
Funded through the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District Board, the program addresses gaps which were not being filled by Interior Health or the Central Interior Division of Family Practice by providing housing, travel costs and a community welcome to help draw physicians to the community.
LaPointe credited Beth Veenkamp, manager of economic development at the city, for spearheading the initiative and getting things rolling.
"Beth really stepped up," said LaPointe.
LaPointe said the physician shortage issue is not just a regional issue, it is now an international issue and it is highly competitive to recruit the in-demand professionals.
When she applied for the role as coordinator, LaPointe said she thought it would involved taking doctors out for dinner, but the program has evolved to become much more than what they thought.
It took a year to even determine where the gaps were and what could be done. Over time, the program rented accommodations for visiting physicians, engaged with Interior Health to determine how they could work together and worked to become more efficient.
"A lot of year two was also around communication," she said, noting between Williams Lake and 100 Mile House the program can't afford to overlap in resources.
"Finding a way to be more efficient was really important," she said.
By the end of year two, the program was managing eight furnished units to help accommodate healthcare professionals and trying to support them when they arrived as much as possible.
"We were really trying to lean on relationships," she said, noting they discovered the people coming back are the ones who weren't looking as much for financial incentives.
LaPointe said the program has supported 77 individuals in just the last 10 months, including 38 people new to the program.
Thirty one of the 77 have returned consistently to the community, which LaPointe said means those people don't need orientation to the hospital or system.
"They know how to make a difference and they're really committed to our community," she said.
The program now partners with Interior Health (IH), helping them run four furnished units at the Osprey Nest, which IH pays for but the program manages. While IH gets priority on who goes into the units, it also helps support the landing program when there is availability.
"We're really building out efficiency," she said, calling her team "lean" and "strategic."
But while the program has seen success, LaPointe said the need for it will not be going away anytime soon.
"We have to continue to be strategic with how we are using these resources," she said.
LaPointe said the program has a place in long term sustainability for the community, because the professionals they are targeting to recruit are looking for connection to the communities.
"We're really focusing on that warm, welcoming embrace," she said.
LaPointe also shared a number of testimonials from health care professionals, which touted the support of the landing program in keeping them returning to work in Williams Lake and 100 Mile House.
She said three years ago, no one anticipated the program would fill the gaps it is filling now.
"Really good progress is being made and a lot of good things are being said about our program," she said.
Council expressed their appreciation for the work LaPointe and her team are doing.
The program was brought forward as a proposal by Vennkamp on behalf of the city of Williams Lake, which then managed the contract for three years.
Now the program is up and running, it will be overseen directly by the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District Board going forward.
Veenkamp credits LaPointe for building the program's success on a budget of less than $160,000 a year.
