Cyber-appointments

Modern-day house calls come to remote B.C. town

Posted on Mon, Jun 9, 2014 - 12:00am

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In this photo from Livecare, a specially trained medical assistant uses an exam camera to capture images of a patient’s throat while a doctor (on screen in the background) observes remotely. Photograph by: Mercedes Leung

Telemedicine is not what the doctor ordered. It’s what patients are showing they want.

Especially in rural, remote communities like Taylor, B.C., where a first-of-its-kind clinic operated by a new company called Livecare opened Monday. Patients there can now have cyber-appointments with top medical experts sitting in their offices in Vancouver or other cities.

Taylor, a picturesque town of 1,500 that’s just south of Fort St. John, has been trying to recruit its own doctor for years, to no avail, said Mayor Fred Jarvis. Now it has access to a bounty of them.