VICTORIA - British Columbia's efforts to attract more physicians to smaller communities are showing success as Health Minister George Abbott announced today that there are more doctors practicing in rural areas than ever before. Between 2003 and 2006, the number of doctors practising in rural areas has increased from 1,765 to 1,883, a 6.7 per cent growth.

"We are having great success in attracting and, more importantly, retaining physicians throughout rural B.C.," said Abbott. "We are committed to the best patient care for all British Columbians and access to physicians will continue to improve as we launch new initiatives and investments over the next few months."

The success in attracting and retaining physicians in rural areas gives British Columbia one of the best ratios of General Practitioners to rural residents in Canada. According to the Society of Rural Physicians in Canada, B.C. had 842 rural residents per GP in 2005 while nationwide the ratio was 1,214 rural residents per General Practitioner. Province-wide, the Canadian Medical Association reports that between 2001 and 2007, the number of physicians in B.C. has grown by 14 per cent while B.C.'s total population grew by 6.8 per cent.

The government has a comprehensive range of programs that support and enhance care for rural British Columbians, including the Rural Retention Program (RRP) that provides incentives to physicians setting up practice in smaller communities. In the first three years since the RRP began in 2003, 30 more GPs and 88 more specialists began practicing in rural British Columbia. Twenty-four communities will see funding increases effective April 1, 2007, to help them support recruitment and retention of family physicians and specialists.

Introduced in 2001, the RRP is a joint program with the BC Medical Association (BCMA) that ensures British Columbians in rural and remote areas of the province have better access to medical services. RRP communities are assessed each year to determine their funding eligibility. This is done through a point system that considers factors such as the number and type of local and neighbouring physicians, community size and distance from major medical communities.

The RRP program is not direct compensation for services. It is an incentive designed to encourage physicians to practice and live in rural communities. As communities and regions are successful in attracting and retaining physicians, the funding is gradually phased out as the community has greater medical supports.

This will be the first year that the points have been reviewed since the program began as updates were postponed over the last two years during negotiation of the physician agreement and related discussions on a comprehensive review of rural medical programs. The province supports 150 communities under the RRP. Most of the communities will see no major change while other communities will see an increase in benefits as a result of the new points.

The BCMA and government opted to gradually introduce the changes to the communities with fewer points this fiscal year by limiting any decrease at two per cent. Physicians in communities with increased points will still receive the full benefits effective April 1. This is considered a transition year for the RRP. Next year, changes will be fully implemented in all communities.

On March 29, 2007, the government announced a funding increase to the Northern Isolation Travel Assistance Program (NITAOP) that compensates visiting specialists and family doctors for travel time and related costs while delivering medical services in eligible rural communities.

The government has a comprehensive range of programs available through the agreement with the BCMA that are designed to attract physicians to rural and isolated areas. This includes NITAOP, rural recruitment incentives, the Rural Education Action Plan and the Rural GP Locum Program. The government will invest approximately $62 million in 2007/08 on medical programs and incentives for rural areas, including $53.3 million for the RRP.