Sylvia Johnson climbed the steps with extra care Thursday, in Lake Cowichan. The 91-year-old says she is taking more precautions than ever after losing her family doctor months ago, and finding no replacement.

“I’m just a little bit worried, like I’m 91 and something might happen and I don’t have a doctor. I have no check-ups now or anything,” said Johnson, a longtime resident of Lake Cowichan.

She is one of many in Lake Cowichan, that are suddenly without a family doctor after both of the town’s family physicians left their practices months ago.

Since then, thousands have been scrambling to find care and in this remote west Cowichan region of 6,600 people. The area is 30 minutes away from Duncan’s hospital, all while a Cowichan transit strike is underway.

“I think it’s a worry for everybody,” said Lake Cowichan senior Sue Alford.

“And this town is not small. It’s a big town,” said Johnson.

After months of recruiting efforts, town council is clearing the way for some much-needed relief to its health care crisis.

This week, council is working on rezoning a Cowichan Lake Road property to set up a clinic for a nurse practitioner who already lives in Lake Cowichan. 

“I think it would give some short-term relief. But this isn’t the answer to our health needs in the west Cowichan. We need significantly more health services, said Mayor of Lake Cowichan, Tim McGonigle.

Even before setting up, McGonigle says the wait list to become a patient of the nurse practitioner already has more than 1,000 names. 

“I’ve heard anecdotally 900 to 2,000. So when you look at the west Cowichan region, we have about 6,600 population and the majority of those are my antiquity. Baby boomers and older with complex health needs,” said McGonigle.

Until family doctors are hired and the new clinic opens, volunteer drivers are helping fill the gap in Lake Cowichan by driving the hour-long trip, several times a week to ensure residents get to their appointments in Duncan.  

“It’s a good program, it’s a really good program,” said Johnson.

“They have no other way of getting there if it wasn’t for our driving program,” said Sue Alford, organizer of the volunteer drivers. 

It’s another example of a short-term, small-town solution, that is trying to help people make do. While town council continues recruiting efforts to bring doctors back to this town that needs them.

READ ALSO: ‘This is urgent’: Lake Cowichan just days away from losing its last family doctor