Seven new family doctors are expected to start working at two Okotoks clinics this year.
Peak Medical Group president Shawn Nicol said the new doctors will work at Pinnacle Medical Centres beginning this spring. Peak Medical Group operates two Pinnacle Medical Centres in Okotoks.
The internationally-trained doctors, from the United Kingdom, India and Nigeria, are assessed before they can practice in Alberta and were recruited with help from AHS and the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), Nicol said.
“They’ve identified Okotoks as a city that is in need of family physicians,” he said. "The town of Okotoks is about to get a whole bunch more doctors."
The three male doctors and four female doctors will arrive over the spring and summer months, he said.
"I've got some starting in April, some in May, some in June, some in July," he said.
Nicol said a typical full-time family doctor sees 800 to 1,200 patients.
People looking for a family doctor can register to be notified when the start dates of the new doctors are released.
Late last year, the Province said too many Albertans don’t have access to a family doctor and announced a new compensation model that it said would encourage more doctors to come to Alberta.
In 2023, the Alberta Medical Association said as many as 650,000 Albertans didn’t have a family doctor
Currently, a Primary Care Network website lists three doctors who are accepting new patients in Okotoks, but none in High River or Diamond Valley.
