On average, it takes a community 18 to 24 months to recruit a new physician. The recently established Worker Bees committee took only four months to get a family doctor to come to Iroquois Falls.
Dr. Cheri Bethune is a member of the committee that’s also recruiting for Cochrane and Matheson. She says Dr. Peter Stryde will be in the Falls early in the new year.
Bethune says Stryde has been practicing for about ten years, and was feeling isolated working in rural Newfoundland.
“The climate in Newfoundland – not the climate, but the climate for family doctors is not very positive,” she remarks. “And so I think in some ways he was feeling unappreciated.”
His arrival will bring the roster of fulltime positions in Iroquois Falls to three.
“We’re very excited and we hope that that will pave the way for more people to look and pay attention and see what we have to offer in our communities,” says Bethune. The committee estimates that it needs ten more doctors for the three communities.
Dr. Stryde’s wife is a nurse practitioner. Bethune says she has not decided yet whether to work with the family health team, or somewhere else.
(Google Meet)
