The vacancy of an ultrasound technician has pushed some Lac La Biche residents to other hospitals for the service. The William J. Cadzow Hospital has been in need of an ultrasound technologist for the more than two years and Lac La Biche Health Foundation chairperson, Zicki Eludin says finding the qualified staff to operate diagnostic equipment at this hospital is part of a bigger problem.
According to Alberta Health Service (AHS) officials, the organization has faced several challenges trying to recruit an ultrasound technician to the Lac La Biche area.
“AHS is actively and aggressively recruiting across Canada for an ultrasound technologist to work at the William J. Cadzow Health Centre in Lac La Biche,” said AHS spokesperson, Kerry Willamson. “Recruiting ultrasound technologists is challenging across North America, the position is in high demand.”
The province of Prince Edward Island made national headlines last year because of a severe shortage of ultrasound technologists which forced many people to wait long periods of time for an appointment or to travel long distances to a hospital with the service.
Currently on the William J. Cadzow hospital website, a message saying, “there is no ultrasound being offered in this location due to vacancy,” is the note on display for people looking for the service in the area.
Williamson explained that one challenge could be colleges not being able to meet the demand and competition for this sector.
Eludin says in his role, the Lac La Biche Health Foundation is constantly running into obstacles when they raise funds for new equipment at the hospital with the potential chance of not having the right staff to run it.
“Our role in this foundation is to improve diagnostic equipment,” he said. He believes some work could be done to the current ultrasound equipment at the hospital.
“It’s pretty old and I think if the equipment was more modern you may have better luck finding a person,” said Eludin.
Williamson says AHS is constantly struggling to recruit health care professionals in certain parts of Canada.
“We often experience challenges in recruiting health care professionals to the North, and that’s why we have incentives aimed at doing just that,” he said.
He adds that some potential incentives include potential signing bonuses and the payment of relocation expenses.
Child and Family Services coordinator, Amie Beniuk, from the Lac La Biche Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) office says when working with her clients that need services from the medical field, they are frequently referring out of town because some services are not available here.
“We are fairly isolated here in Lac La Biche and do not have access to as many services as larger cities do,” said Beniuk. “If we have clients who are in need of services outside the area, like ultrasounds, we will work with our clients to arrange transportation or funding for transportation for them.”
However, Eludin argues that there are other more remote areas than Lac La Biche that still have these services.
“It could be an issue, but we are not the only isolated hospital,” said Eludin.
