Shuswap community posts wanted posters to attract full-time physician

SCOTCH CREEK, B.C. – A North Shuswap community is getting creative as it searches for a doctor willing to care for its roughly 700 residents.

Wild West-style wanted posters are appearing in Scotch Creek, about 100 kilometres north of Vernon.

The posters offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who can bring a doctor to the area.

The North Shuswap Healthcare Society, which developed the novel plan, said the physician would have to agree to stay in Scotch Creek, on the shores of Shuswap Lake, for at least three years.

The society has been advertising for a doctor for almost 24 months, while its residents make the long trip to Vernon, Kamloops, or elsewhere, for medical care.

"We're one of 100 communities that are looking for a doctor," said society spokesman Jay Simpson.

"It is our community's effort to stand out among the many competing to attract family physicians," he said.