Williams Lake, B.C., launched a recruitment and retention strategy in 2022 that it says is showing results

When doctors Jacques and Mariska Neuhoff take their two kids to the park in their home in Williams Lake, they can just let their kids play.

And they never forget just how special that is.

They moved to the Interior B.C. community of around 11,000 people five years ago from Pretoria in South Africa. They didn’t want their children to have to grow up in gated communities.

The couple estimates they spent about three years and around $60,000 on flights and exams before being certified to practise as family doctors and anesthesiologists.

“It’s a very long and tough process,” said Jacques.

But what awaited them was something special.

“We came into a home with a stocked fridge and a pantry from the community that put it there for us,” said Jacques.

The couple said people were knocking on the door every day, bringing dinner and welcoming them to the community.

Three years ago, local city and health officials decided to formalize and fund that warm welcome the Neuhoff’s received and make it part of their recruitment and retention strategy.

The city, with funding from the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital Board, hired two healthcare landing co-ordinators with the aim of attracting long term and locum doctors to the city and the nearby District of 100 Mile House.