Doctor visits Tofield over weekend as recruitment drive hits critical stage for community and area

Doctor-Photo2 — Welcoming Dr. Mohammad Muneer (second from left) were, from left: Tofield Mayor Nabil Chehayab, Ryley Mayor and Chair of the Tofield and Area Health Foundation Cyndy Heslin and Beaver County Reeve Bob Young. Dr. Muneer is the first doctor recruited by Global Medics to make a site visit to Tofield in the Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee’s bid to find two doctors to cover shortages in the community.

With the need for doctors hitting critical proportions in the Tofield area, Global Medics has recruited a physician from Egypt willing to make a site visit last weekend.

Dr. Mohammad Muneer came from Ireland, arriving in Tofield on Friday to tour the local medical facilities and seniors lodges. The three-day tour included the hospital and the clinic that will be vacated by Dr. Marina Sapozhnikov at the end of the month.
Tofield Mayor Nabil Chehayeb and Ryley Mayor Cyndy Heslin met Dr. Muneer Friday morning and escorted him to Tofield, where a meeting was arranged at the Tofield Health Centre with Tofield’s Dr. Richard Hackett, hospital manager Melody Henriksen and other officials.
Darren Erickson, vice-chair of the Doctor Recruitment and Retention Committee, cautioned a day prior to the visit that the tour was “just a trip,” and no commitments are immediately expected.
“No decision has been made about his coming (to practice here),” he said, last Thursday. “All it is is a site visit.”

By Patricia Harcourt
Editor

For more see the March 12/13 issue of the Tofield Mercury