Three local physicians were honoured by the Town of Okotoks today, National Physicians Appreciation Day, which falls on March 30th.

Dr. Anton Nel, Dr. Ron Spice and Dr. Ana-Maria Oelschig, were acknowledged, for their outstanding work in health care.

Dr. Spice is the Zone Clinical Head for the Alberta Health Services Department of Rural Medicine, the Academic Rural Director for the University of Calgary's Family Medicine program, and he also works as a physician in palliative care locally.

Dr. Oelschig is an urgent care doctor in Okotoks and is deeply involved in the Okotoks Physician Attraction and Retention Committee.

Dr. Nel  is a family doctor in Okotoks, is active in urgent care, the Calgary Rural Primary Care Network, and is President of the Physicians Executive in Urgent Care. He says he's grateful for the honour.

"Its flattering and I'm very privileged and humbled by the gesture of the town to recognize me," he says. "I think I'm in the same boat as many other physicians who do excellent work in the community, and I'm just proud to be part of Okotoks, I'm proud to be in the community."

Dr. Spice says the acknowledgement is welcome, and helps counter the stresses all doctors face in health care.

"I've practiced a bunch of different places and I've taken on different roles", he says. "With each of those changes there's a certain amount of anxiety and uncertainty and a learning curve of not knowing for sure if you're really on top of things so it is nice to hear the kind of appreciation that people have."

Dr. Nel also says he wants patients in the area to know what options are available to them, to better their own health.

"CRPCN.ca,  we encourage patients to go there and look for different programs that they can access for free that's offered through the primary care network. It can improve their health and benefit their care going forward."

To visit the website click here

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com