Thousands of northern British Columbia residents who have gone without a family doctor may finally get the care they need this autumn, as two newly trained physicians prepare to open their doors to patients in Fort St. John.
Dr. Manraj Khangura and Dr. Haroon Ahmed, both international medical graduates, are wrapping up two years of residency training in the city and are expected to begin accepting up to 3,000 new patients as of September — a development local health leaders say could transform primary care access across the region.
Unlike most physicians who arrive in Fort St. John and simply absorb an existing practice without expanding patient rosters, Khangura and Ahmed represent a genuine net addition to the community's medical capacity.
"We're super thrilled to have them join," said Dr. Hannah Galeazzi, vice-president of the North Peace Division of Family Practice. "It will just only be positive to have more physicians that are able to see patients on a regular basis — do their age-appropriate screening and manage their chronic disease."
Emergency Rooms Bearing the Burden
Galeazzi noted that residents without a family doctor frequently turn to hospital emergency departments for conditions that should be handled in a primary care setting — placing unnecessary strain on an already stretched system.
"It's really tough for patients when they don't have a family doctor because there's lots of stuff that is not an emergency, but they don't really have anywhere else to go," she said.
The arrival of two additional physicians accepting new patients is expected to reduce that pressure and allow ER staff to focus on genuine emergencies.
B.C. Claims Top Spot for Doctors Per Capita
The provincial government this week announced that British Columbia now leads the country in the number of physicians per capita, with more than 15,000 doctors — translating to 271 per 100,000 residents, more than half of whom are family physicians.
The health ministry reports that roughly 77 per cent of B.C. residents now have access to a primary care provider, with 600,000 people connected to either a family doctor or a nurse practitioner since 2023. The province says it has brought nearly 1,500 new family doctors into the health-care system since 2017.
"We're making progress," Premier David Eby said. "Seventy-seven per cent is not 100 per cent, and that is the goal we're moving to."
American Health Professionals Crossing the Border
B.C.'s recruitment push has also drawn talent from south of the border. As of last month, more than 500 American health professionals had accepted positions in the province, including 109 doctors, 315 nurses, 51 nurse practitioners, and more than two dozen allied health professionals.
For communities like Fort St. John — isolated, fast-growing, and historically underserved — these numbers represent more than statistics. They represent real people who will finally have someone to call when they're sick.
Source: CBC Health. Original reporting by Matt Preprost.