Okotoks residents can breathe easier after the chronic doctor shortage has been cured, for now.

Many residents in Okotoks are without family doctors or have had to leave town for their non-emergent medical concerns as the town just didn't have enough doctors to serve the rising population, until now.

Newer medical offices like Pinnacle Medical Centres in Okotoks have helped to relieve the issue with three new doctors joining town in 2017.

Ken Heemeryck, Okotoks Town Councillor, says the committee to thank was comprised of an assortment of experts.

"So the committee was struck and it comprised of some political members, some doctors in the area and other health care professionals," Heemeryck says, "Their primary goal was attraction and the retention of physicians into Okotoks."

The committee focused a lot on bringing Okotoks to the map and to catch the eye of physicians from around the world.  Heemeryck explains what they did to make that happen.

"There was a few components just to help pave the way for doctors to come so a little bit of a knowledge about Okotoks from doctors that may not have been from Canada and more knowledge about the sponsorship system that would take place in order for a doctor that wasn't a Canadian trained doctor to become eligible to practice in Alberta."

Heemeryck says this is a huge success for the committee and they can now be pro-active about the rising population instead of reactive.

"It's been an absolute success by the committee that was set out on this task.  For sure, they can say with confidence that residents don't have a doctor shortage of any type for medical doctors in Okotoks."

The committee will continue to meet and monitor the situation to ensure that Okotoks remains ahead of the game.  

For those local residents that are in search of a family physician or would like to find someone more local, they can head to https://www.calgaryareadocs.com/ to find doctors who are accepting new patients. 

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