NorKam clinic grows with addition of two new doctors

KAMLOOPS – Two new doctors from across the globe have joined the ranks at the NorKam Healthcare Centre, but it doesn't mean those in need of a family doctor should start lining up.

Dr. Laila Ayoub and Dr. Renih Mekhail are joining Dr. Susan Vlahos at the NorKam Healthcare Centre, clinic manager Patti Aldrich says.

"We really do feel we hit the lottery. We've met these wonderful doctors from the Middle East and they are not new to the block. They bring decades of experience in the medical field," Aldrich says. "They are highly trained and experienced. They come here eager, grateful and ready to work and that is refreshing."

Aldrich stressed the clinic has a system of patient selection and they won't stray from it. First to join the new physicians' lists are patients the new doctors brought in personally, next are the people who were left without a family doctor when a doctor at the clinic retired a year ago and finally the rest are chosen from patients that came into the walk-in clinic often enough, they were using it as a primary care clinic.

As for how many patients the new doctors can take, that number isn't hard or fast. Patients with complex care or long-term issues take more time to treat thus, lowering a doctor's patient list. She says it wouldn't be unusual to see about 1,500 patients on their patient lists.

The NorKam Healthcare Centre shed its previous role as a walk-in clinic and began operating as a primary care clinic on April 1, 2017.

Dr. Ayoub and Dr. Mekhail are under three-year contracts to work at the NorKam clinic, and according to Aldrich, took part in a long, expensive application process to live and work here.

"They’ve jumped through all the hoops and written all the exams at their own expense. This has cost them tens of thousands of dollars to serve the patients here," Aldrich says.

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