Northern Health responds to calls for improved health care in Fort St John

Northern Health says it's doing everything it can to convince medical professionals to move to Fort St. John. The response comes after more than a thousand people signed an online petition calling for an end the doctor shortage.

Angela De Smit is the CEO for Northern Health's Northeast Health Service Delivery Area. She says the health authority is courting doctors and nurses to move to the region, even paying for potential candidates to see and experience the north, and tailoring the experience to each individual.

"So if they have kids in speed skating or kids in soccer or their wife has a profession, then we try to link them up so they can see how attractive our northern communities are," she says.

One problem, De Smit says, is they can't force doctors and nurses to move, and there is high demand for health professionals across the country.

In the meantime she says Northern Health is working with community partners and looking for new ways of delivering health care.