Richmond Review, March 11, 2015

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TONY LING

McMath’s senior girls squad finishes 5th in B.C. hoops 14

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Summer block party approved

Getting hand’s on at Seedy Saturday

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015

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Plan aims to stem doctor shortage

Minoru Park could welcome a crowd of 40,000 during Labour Day weekend

Doctors’ group focuses on recruitment, succession planning and increasing capacity by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter

by Matthew Hoekstra Staff Reporter City council approved $170,000 in funding Monday for a new summer festival that one councillor believes can pick up where another left off. The Richmond World Block Party, scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 5, will be have a multicultural focus. Planned for the day-long party at Minoru Park are entertainment acts, a few dozen food trucks, a chef showcase and a sports zone featuring the world’s lesser-known athletic pursuits. Coun. Linda McPhail said the party could fill the void Richmond Multifest left when the long-running East Richmond summer festival ended several years ago. “The festival can celebrate Richmond’s significant diversity through music, food and culture, and cater to families and children. I believe that bringing different cultures together to celebrate their diversity can create a greater sense of community and understanding and intercultural harmony.” City planners, who aim to court sponsors to boost the budget by another $75,000, estimate the festival could draw over 40,000 people. Bryan Tasaka, manager of major events, told council staff will develop a transportation plan to accommodate the large crowd, adding that Minoru’s proximity to a Canada Line station is a “big bonus.”

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Katie Lawrence photo With some help from Auntie Julie, Jayden Feng made a seed bomb during Seedy Saturday at Thompson Community Centre. See story, page 19.

Longtime local family doctor Dr. Jack Kliman remembers the fallout after a fellow Richmond physician retired last fall. “I had an elderly lady in my reception basically begging to be taken as a patient. That just is not acceptable in our world,” he said in an interview Tuesday. In the next four years, 24 family doctors are expected to retire in Richmond. In the next year alone five will leave their practices, and about half don’t have a succession plan, potentially leaving more desperate patients without a family doctor. Now a group of local doctors are taking action to ward off a crisis. On Monday the Richmond Division of Family Practice and its 132 local family physicians tabled a plan aimed at addressing the general practitioner shortage in Richmond. The plan is funded by A GP For Me, a joint initiative of the province and B.C. doctors that aims to improve access and build capacity in primary care. It follows a community survey late last year that estimated 39,000 Richmond residents don’t have a family doctor. That number could grow to 67,000 in four years with predicted physician retirements. Strategies will be rolled out this month that focus on strengthening physician-patient relationships, recruitment, succession planning and increasing patient capacity in doctors’ offices. Other strategies seeks to expand the reach of doctor’s offices and increase patients’ understanding of the health care system. The doctors’ group probed the situation in Richmond last fall. Doctors were surveyed, as was the community in a non-scientific sampling of 1,511 residents. The assessment found 83 per cent of respondents have a family doctor, while most who don’t are looking for one. Those without a family doctor tended to be younger, or new to Canada. See Page 5

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