And then there were five.
Yet another doctor’s office will close in 2016, as Andries Smit is closing his practise at the end of April.
Speaking on behalf of the Merritt physician of 17 years, his wife Twiny said Andries is retiring.
For more than two years Smit had been searching for a replacement to take over his practice at 2035 Charters St., but has been unsuccessful in finding one.
At the time, Twiny told the Herald that although their departure was inevitable, they wanted to reassure their patients they won’t be deserted or left stranded.
“We’ve been making this decision the last six months — it wasn’t a quick decision.” Twiny Smit, wife of Dr. Andries Smit
“We advertised and we were talking around, and [made] it known that we [were] looking,” Twiny said in a phone interview with the Herald Monday.
She said it didn’t seem as though they were going to find a replacement after searching for years.
They spoke with a bunch of potential candidates, but upon hearing the practise was a busy one located in a small town, it became difficult to convince those candidates to make the move.
“I’m hoping somebody [will] step forward still, and come to town, but it hasn’t happened yet,” she said. “Let’s put it this way: there’s not much hope on that,” she said.
This announcement comes just weeks after Dr. Urbanus Bester announced that he will close his practise at the end of March — leaving roughly 2,000 patients in search of a new doctor.
“It was a decision that we felt we needed to make now and everybody is probably scrambling for a physician with doctor Bester gone. Our [patients] are going to be in the same boat,” Twiny said.
She said Bester’s closure didn’t influence Andries decision to close his practice.
“We’ve been making this decision the last six months — it wasn’t a quick decision,” she said.
The reason why they chose to make this announcement now was so that their patients would have some time to find a new doctor.
Two years ago, Merritt had six family physicians serving the community, and in December of 2013, the Interior Health Authority (IHA) said its goal was to recruit three more.
Twiny declined to answer the question of how many patients doctor Smit currently serves, though Dr. Duncan Ross, chief of medical staff for the Nicola Valley Hospital told the Herald that the average number of patients local doctors serve is between 1,000 and 2,000.
Two other employees work out of Smit’s office, Twiny said.
The Smit’s plan to eventually leave the Nicola Valley to be closer to their children.
Two years ago, Merritt had six family physicians serving the community, and in December of 2013, the Interior Health Authority (IHA) said its goal was to recruit three more.
One was recruited and two have since announced their practices are closing this spring.
By May, Merritt will have just five doctors — Donald McLeod, Duncan Ross, Paul Simon, Drew Soderberg and Errol Van Der Merwe.
Thousands of residents are being left without a doctor as a result of these announcements.
When he announced the impending closure of his practise earlier this month, Bester said the other doctors in town will try to accommodate his patients.
Twiny said that she and Andries haven’t had a chance yet to speak with the other physicians in town regarding the possibility of having them take on their patients.
