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Your community voice for the north! WEDNESDAY June 1, 2016
NEWS AND EVENTS FOR PRINCE GEORGE AND CENTRAL INTERIOR
Aging doctors cause for concern across region Samantha WRIGHT ALLEN Citizen staff sallen@pgcitizen.ca
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he north, like the rest of the province, is grappling with an expected wave of retiring doctors, even as the region struggles to recruit and retain physicians to address ongoing shortages. Doctors of B.C. predicts 25 per cent of family doctors will retire in the next five years. About 10 per cent of the north’s 502 physicians are over the age of 65, compared to 14.5 per cent of the 10,337 doctors practicing in the province, according to data pulled from Medical Services Plan claims files and the Alternative Payments Program. But the numbers only include known age and location, so they could be even higher. “We can’t let those numbers that show that we’re a little bit younger in the north let us off the hook in terms of being vigilant
Doctors of B.C. predicts 25 per cent of family doctors will retire in the next five years. About 10 per cent of the north’s 502 physicians are over the age of 65... about all this stuff,” said Dr. Garry Knoll, Prince George Division of Family Practice physician lead. Looking at the north’s numbers in the context of an existing shortage of doctors can be daunting. “Does it keep me up at night?” said Knoll. “Yes it does. “I know docs in town who have been trying to recruit, to find somebody take over their practices, who just can’t find anybody and so they work longer,” he said, because they feel a duty to those clients. — see ‘THERE LIKELY, page 5
Handout file photo
Dr. Garry Knoll is lead physician at Prince George Division of Family Practice.
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‘There likely is going to be a significant shortfall’ — from page 3 “After you work with a panel of patients for 20, 25 years, you kind of get attached. It’s sort of a codependent relationship… You really want the best for people. You feel like you really need to provide that kind of care when you retire.” In the north, general practice doctors are on average 48 years old, three years younger than the provincial average. For specialists, the north matches B.C.’s average of 50 years as well as the average age – 70 – for doctors still practicing above retirement age. “There likely is going to be a significant shortfall, but the Ministry of Health, the Minister (Terry Lake) in particular it seems are very aware of the issue that’s facing us and working collaboratively with Doctors of
B.C. to solve the problem,” said Dr. Charles Webb, the organization’s president. “We’re working on areas to accommodate shortfalls wherever we can and also to stretch older doctors tenure by incorporating through divisions in various programs to increase the locum capacity… so that they can fill gaps when people are away on holidays.” A second solution is through matching older physicians with incoming doctors. “The divisions are pairing them up with younger physicians and helping them transition,” Webb said. The matching approach has worked quite effectively in Vancouver, he said, but Knoll knows of several physicians in the north who are having no such luck. — see ‘B.C. ALWAYS, page 6
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Thinkstock file photo
In the north the average age of general-practice doctors is 48 years old, and the average age of medical specialists is 50 years.
‘B.C. always relied on a net inflow of physicians to meet its needs’ — from page 5 Recruitment and retention has been an issue since the Prince George division’s inception in 2009, said Knoll, who remembered having such discussions in the 1990s, and pointed to the development of the Northern Medical Program as a key driver. “So much of the work is upstream work. It’s about trying to develop a medical community that young doctors in medical school would think is attractive and a good place to live and to work,” he said. “Their experience all along the way that influences whether or not they’d be a candidate for recruitment. And although the province has almost doubled the number of medical graduates, it can’t keep up with the number of retirees or the manner in which medicine is
now practiced. Webb called it the compounding factor. “Twice as many only takes up the slack for the retiring and doesn’t take into increasing complexity of the older patients,” Webb said. “B.C. always relied on a net inflow of physicians to meet its needs,” Knoll added. “I think we’ve ridden on the coattails of other jurisdictions that have been supplying doctors for us and that’s drying up,” said Knoll, pointing to a shift in approach by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. “They’ve restricted surgeon recruitment of South Africa because ethically is it right that we should recruit all the South African doctors to British Columbia?” — see LONGER, page 7
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Longer lifespans contributing to complexity of care — from page 6 “I think we have to as a province decide are we training enough docs? Do we have them in the right places?” Knoll said. The conversation around aging
doctors also needs to address the changing needs of the population as well as the changing approach to medicine by its practitioners – one that’s leaning towards better work-life balance.
It’s not necessarily a one-toone replacement, either. Doctors in previous years might have thought nothing of committing 70 hours in a week but that is no longer the norm.
“The way that we do business now is quite different than when I began that’s for sure,” Knoll said. “We have lots of people who live longer... with more complicated diseases and that takes more time
to organize, more time to support for a better lifestyle.” Those younger doctors aren’t necessarily working to their full capacity, either. — see ‘THERE’S NO, page 8
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Florida Georgia Line return to P.G. Higher fines for passing stopped school buses now in effect
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t’s a country comeback at CN Centre. An encore performance by Florida Georgia Line has been announced for Nov. 16 with special guests Chris Lane (noted for the singles Fix, Let’s Ride and Broken Windshield View) and Granger Smith (top singles include If The Boot Fits, Backroad Song, Bury Me In Bluejeans, and
many more). Lane was also among the opening acts when the band was last in Prince George in 2014. The FGL phenomenon is led by frontmen Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard. Tickets to the CN Centre show went on sale May 27 at the CN Centre box office or online at www.LiveNation.com.
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Citizen staff
he fines passing school buses with flashing lights has been more-than doubled to $368, the provincial government said this week. The previous penalty of $167 was one of the lowest in Canada and found to be not enough to deter the infraction, according to a review conducted in March. “Ensuring the safety of children as they get on and off the school bus is part of our efforts to make B.C. roads the safest in North America,” said Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Mike Morris. “We will continue to look at new technologies to help deter irresponsible drivers from passing school buses with flashing lights.” Between 2009 and 2014, 1,100 violation tickets were issued by police for drivers that failed to stop for a school bus. To date, no child has died while getting on or off a school bus but 14 were injured.
‘There’s no doubt that we’ve had challenges about patients not being able to find family doctors’ — from page 8 “The health authorities have been really good in trying to increase OR time in the public facilities through reducing seasonal closures, and extending the hours of service as well as contracting significant amount of patients to private surgical sites,” Webb said, for procedures like cataract or knee surgery. “To provide greater access it’s no question we’re going to need to work in multidisciplinary clinics.” The Prince George division has been working with Northern Health to reform primary care services to create a teambased approach. “A team can be looking after a panel of patients in a meaningful way so that everybody is working to the top of their license,” Knoll said. “There’s no doubt that we’ve had challenges about patients not being able to find family doctors or even having delayed consults with specialists and not having access to the kind of care that we would hope for, but I think the whole system has to change to accommodate that.” The hope is that new system of solutions can both be more efficient and offer a better experience.
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Violent sexual offender granted day parole Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
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he perpetrator of an infamous kidnaping and sexual assault against an elderly woman has been granted day parole. Joseph Robert Fowlie, who has been behind bars for slightly more than six years, must return to a halfway house at night and is prohibited from consuming alcohol and driving. He must also avoid contact with the victim and her family and he must take psychological counselling under the terms issued May 4 by the Parole Board of Canada. In December 2010, Fowlie was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty
to kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault for the March 2010 incident. Fowlie was driving home after drinking 12 to 14 beers while playing poker and watching hockey at a friend’s home when, shortly before 3 a.m., he perceived that the woman, who was driving home from work, had cut off his cube van while heading south along Tyner Boulevard. Fowlie followed her along Highway 16 speeding up and slowing down as she sped up and slowed down and then, as she turned onto West Beaverly Road, Fowlie turned as well, ramming her vehicle twice and knocking it into a ditch. When she saw Fowlie approach her, she tried to close the door on her vehicle but was unable to do so. — see FOWLIE SLAPPED, page 12
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Fowlie slapped, choked, beat, sexually assaulted victim — from page 10 Fowlie, who was a stranger to her, apologized to her at first and claimed he was trying to pass her. The woman responded by saying he shouldn’t worry about it and she’ll call the RCMP and her husband.
But then, Fowlie grabbed her and dragged her out of the vehicle. She struggled, kicked and bit Fowlie, who grabbed her hair and knocked her head against the side of the van and then forced her into the back of the vehicle. He then drove a further 25 kilometres
west along the highway to Pascoe Road, an isolated spur off Isle Pierre Road, where he slapped, choked, beat and sexually assaulted her. Fowlie told the woman, 62 years old at the time, he would have to kill her because he did not want to go to jail, but backed off when she began talking about her family, her children and her grandchildren. Fowlie drove her back to her vehicle but by that time others were on the scene. He kept going and dropped her off at a different location. Suffering many injuries, she made her way to a West Beaverly home at about 6:15 a.m. Fowlie turned himself in the next day and later pleaded guilty to committing the crime. In January 2014, the board rejected a previous application for day parole. Despite posing a low risk to reoffend, a positive release plan, accepting responsibility for his
Fowlie told the woman, 62 years old at the time, he would have to kill her because he did not want to go to jail... offence and developing some insight into his behaviour the board remained concerned about what caused him to carry out the unprovoked attack. At the most recent hearing, Fowlie described a tumultuous upbringing in which he suffered sexual abuse and relied on alcohol to improve his low self-esteem. He remained sober for seven months during his wife’s pregnancy but his alcohol use escalated following the death of their unborn son. — see FOWLIE FULL, page 14
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Fowlie full of self loathing — from page 12 Fowlie, now in his early 40s, told the board he was in a “negative state of mind” when he left his friend’s home on the night of the attack and wanted to make his victim feel like himself: “miserable, humiliated and ashamed.”
The prohibition against driving was issued because Fowlie had a history of drinking and driving – his licence was suspended in 2009 as a result – and because he used his vehicle as a weapon in committing the crime. Fowlie must wait six months before he can apply for full parole.
Runner survives brush with bear Mark NIELSEN Citizen staff mnielsen@pgcitizen.ca
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f it wasn’t for his dog, the victim of a bear attack in Forests for the World says his injuries would have been much worse. It was shortly after 4 p.m. on May 17 when Reid Roberts, 46, and his border collie, Pacer, ran into a mother black bear not long after the accomplished ultra-marathoner had started a training run. He had turned immediately right after leaving the parking lot at the end of Kueng Road – so he was heading away from Shane Lake – and was only a few hundred metres up the trail when the trouble began. He and Pacer had started a slow climb towards the lookout. Pacer was about five feet ahead when they ran into the sow who was in some willows alongside the trail.
This bear came out ears down, head down, eyes glued on me. It was in attack mode right away. — Reid Roberts Only the day before, Roberts and Pacer had another encounter with a bear on Cranbrook Hill. That time, Pacer put the chase on it and the bear took off. But this time, it was a very different story. “This bear came out ears down, head down, eyes glued on me,” Roberts said. “It was in attack mode right away.” Roberts started yelling hard and waving his hands while backing up, but to no avail. He didn’t remember exactly how he got there but Roberts ended up on the ground and off the trail. — see DOG CREDITED, page 15
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Citizen photo by Brent Braaten
Reid Roberts gestures with his injured hand after being attacked by a black bear in Forest For the World on May 17.
Dog credited with stopping attack — from page 14 The bear was “swatting at me like dogs do with their front paws when playing with another dog,” Roberts said. As he was on his back, Roberts kicked at her while Pacer came at her “barking and biting.” The bear briefly went after Pacer but turned quickly back on Roberts who vaguely recalled moving behind a clump of willows looking for any protection. It didn’t help as the bear simply went right through and put Roberts on his back for a second time. Luckily, that second attack lasted only seconds. “Pacer was on her just as fast, biting at her,” Roberts said. “This time she took off hard after him, but I knew he would outrun her.” Roberts quickly got up and saw blood gushing from his hand but no other obvious injuries. “I knew my cut was bad but otherwise I was fine,” Roberts said. He wrapped his hand in the bottom of his shirt, and as he watched the bear chase Pacer down the trail, he tried shimmying up a nearby tree, anticipating she would return. — see ROBERTS, page 18
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Roberts called fellow runner, then 911 — from page 15 He was unable to get up the tree – it had no branches big enough to hang onto – but the bear didn’t come back. Roberts used his cellphone to call fellow ultra-marathoner Jeff Hunter, “thinking that if I went into shock or passed out he
would be able to find me and help the rescue.” But the call went to voicemail and Roberts could only leave a message. Next, he remembered his GPS watch timer was still on, so he paused it to end the run.
Then he called 911. Roberts found himself having to explain multiple times where he was and what parking lot he was walking to, complicated by the fact he had to walk down the trail in the same direction the bear had taken off after Pacer. “I also remember telling the 911 dispatcher that I need to hang up so I can get the mosquitoes off of me since I only had one hand to use,” Roberts said. “I had been yelling so much that I went hoarse, so the dispatcher thought I was a woman.” He got to the parking lot, calling after Pacer the entire time. Two people who had walked out on the Shane Lake trail saw Roberts, his face and legs covered in blood from the punctured hand. The ambulance was on its way but Roberts didn’t want to leave until Pacer had been found. Fortunately, Hunter showed up at the same time as the paramedics and told him Pacer had ran to his house, about
Roberts ended up with 16 stitches around his thumb and some minor claw marks on his stomach and arm. His shorts were also ripped to shreds but not his shirt. two kilometres away. As the police, who had arrived just before the ambulance, started to wrap his hand, Roberts found himself going into shock and was beginning to pass out when Hunter told him the news. Roberts ended up with 16 stitches around his thumb and some minor claw marks on his stomach and arm. His shorts were also ripped to shreds but not his shirt. He suspects the injury to his hand came from one of the bear’s claws, not her teeth. — see ‘I NEVER HAD PAIN, page 19
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‘I never had pain until I was walking out’ — from page 18 “There was never any pain. I never had pain until I was walking out... and then there was severe pain,” Roberts said. Roberts’ passion is long-distance running. His achievements as an ultra-marathoner include an eighth-place finish in the 125-kilometre Canadian Death Race based
in Grande Cache, Alta. and he plans on participating in a 200-kilometre event in Manning Park this August. “I run between four and five thousand kilometres every year and 80 per cent of it is on trails, I only run on the road to get to a trail,” Roberts said. — see ‘I’VE HAD, page 20
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‘I’ve had lots of bear encounters, obviously this being the most extreme’ — from page 19 “I’m not an inexperienced trail runner and I’ve had lots of bear encounters, obviously this being the most extreme.” Roberts had a similar but less traumatic encounter two years ago. There was no dog with him that time, but more significantly in Roberts’ opinion, there was a bit more distance between him and the bear on that occasion. “The bear wasn’t threatened yet, so there was a standoff,” Roberts said. “The bear came at me, I started backing away, waving my hands, yelling, staying calm and when it started to trot towards me, I lunged at the bear like I was going to attack it and it stopped.” As it backed away, he ran at it some more and the distance between the two grew
If I didn’t have my dog there, I would’ve walked right past it and the bear would’ve come out and taken me out. — Reid Roberts until the bear finally fled for good. As for this latest encounter, Roberts is convinced bringing Pacer along made no difference – the attack would have occurred regardless. “If I didn’t have my dog there, I would’ve walked right past it and the bear would’ve come out and taken me out,” Roberts said. — see LESSONS LEARNED, page 22
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Lessons learned — from page 20 Roberts credits Pacer for getting the bear off him and is certain that if he hadn’t been attacked, someone else would’ve been in the bear’s sights, noting the attack occurred only 200 metres or so from the parking lot. “I actually feel lucky it was me,” Roberts said. “My daughter was there the day before with her Grade 2 class walking those trails.” He’s also certain carrying bear spray would not have mattered because he wouldn’t have had the time to pull the spray out of its holster. “By the time the bear came out on the trail, it was on me in probably five seconds. I mean, the whole thing lasted probably 30 seconds,” Roberts said. The mother bear was later tracked down and killed but contrary to initial reports – and to Roberts’ relief – her two cubs, which he never saw, were not killed but rather
The mother bear was later tracked down and killed but... her two cubs, which he never saw, were not killed but rather tranquilized and taken to the Northern Lights wildlife sanctuary in Smithers. tranquilized and taken to the Northern Lights wildlife sanctuary in Smithers. Roberts, a teacher at D.P. Todd secondary school in Prince George, expected to be off work for at least a week as he went through a regimen of antibiotics. As soon as he can, Roberts said he will be back out on the trails. “Next time I will make more noise more often and keep Pacer in the lead,” he said.
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GATEWAYA&E
Master of light Frank PEEBLES Citizen staff fpeebles@pgcitizen.ca
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ris Foot is the top light painter on our planetary orb. On May 17, he got the call that he
was the champion of the Spun-Ups Global Orbs tournament on Instagram, a competition entered by photographers all over the world who specialize in long-exposure light manipulation images. — see ‘IT WAS, page 25
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Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Handout photo by Kris Foot
Prince George photographer Kris Foot won the Spun-Ups Global Orbs championship with this image, shot at the historic Salmon Valley church on May 15.
‘It was a Canadian face-off’ — from page 24 “I found out five minutes ago. They announced it as a post on their page, then the leader messaged me also. I’m a happy guy,” said Foot, who advanced through several playoff rounds to arrive at the finals. He squared off against Kevin Cripps who goes by the Instagram name Adaptive_Kromatics. Each submitted their pièce de
résistance on May 16, then had to wait for the panel of international judges to render their verdict. “It was a Canadian face-off. Kevin is from Alberta, so that was surprising,” said Foot, who then laughed in disbelief. “I’ve never been the champion of anything; now suddenly I’m a world champion.” — see ‘THE GUY, page 28
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GATEWAYA&E
‘The guy I was going against had epic locations’ — from page 25 The championship image was a shot of the historic Salmon Valley church taken on the night of May 15 just before midnight. The focal point of the shot is a human silhouette in what appears to be a blast of fire, flanked by four orbs, each a different colour, each with a corresponding string of colour leading to a white semi-sphere seemingly growing from the ground in front of it all. Trees and the stars completed the composition. Each orb had to be separately “drawn” using light, and the fire illustration had to be painted onto the night air also using light. “I went all-out. I was definitely stressing out over location because the guy I was going against had epic locations every time,
and he was starting to incorporate astrophotography too (Milky Way backdrops), so I knew I had to bring my absolute best best shot,” said Foot. “I thought about Hixon Falls, but then I used Questions & Answers Of Prince George (a Facebook page) to get some suggestions, and I didn’t get a big response for that, so I decided to go right back to my roots. I went to the Salmon Valley church because it’s where I spun my very first orb, it’s where I first started light painting.” The fire effect was created by opening the camera’s aperture and holding it open while Foot whipped the air with a device “like a horse tail made up of fiberoptic hairs, each one illuminated with coloured light, it’s called a bit whip.” — see FOOT BORN, page 29
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Foot born colour-blind
Handout photo by Kris Foot
Light painting uses moving light sources and long camera exposures to create optical effects.
— from page 28 For the orbs, he had to be close to perfect as he spun each one by hand, light streaks that had to be carefully controlled to ensure each was the same size and shape. “I didn’t use any of my axis mechanical tools. It was a light taped to the end of a rope, super ghetto, but it worked,” he said. He estimated the shutter was open for about 600 seconds, each time he tried. He flubbed two preliminary attempts but the third one was the charm.
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Adding to his challenge: Foot is colour-blind. His father came along as bear protection and equipment assistant, and it was dad who told him how to arrange himself for the orb spinning so the correct colours were in a line across the final image. To see the array of this world champion light painter’s work, look up Foot’s Facebook page named K.Foot Photography or look on Instagram by searching up the Spun-Ups Global Orbs keywords.
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