For the second time in a little more than a decade, the town of Lake Cowichan is preparing to be doctorless.

After a long career, Dr. Dave Froese, one of the last doctors to offer house calls, is retiring. His associate, Dr. Wagdy Basily is moving back to his hometown due to personal reasons. When they go, their clinic will close, and the community of about 3,300 will be without a family doctor.

It is not the first time the town has faced this issue. In 2012, through a concerted effort, it managed to attract several physicians to fill the void. Thirteen years later, official are hoping for a repeat. Froese sat in on a recent council meeting to express his concerns about trying to find a replacement.

"I've had discussions with him, and have requested a meeting with the Minister of Health on how we can move forward in the interim," said Lake Cowichan Mayor Tim McGonigle. "With the aging population in Lake Cowichan I am concerned about people not being able to commute to Duncan, and if they do that there will be no doctors available to them."

"We are not the only community struggling with the lack of family physicians, but one of our impeding problems is our location. Even though we are only 20 minutes from Duncan, a lot of people feel we are remote."

This struggle is seen across the Island. A lot of younger professional gravitate towards larger cities where there is more options for social life, and entertainment. Even though Lake Cowichan is centrally located less than 90 minnutes away from both Nanaimo and Victoria, it's an ongoing concern that has become very problematic, McGonigle said.

He said he thinks either an outdoor enthusiast or a doctor couple would be the most ideal fit.

Short-term, the town has 1.7 nurse practitioners that practice out of the Kaatza Health Unit at the Lake Cowichan Health Centre and while there are currently more than 600 people waiting for a nurse practioner, anyone currently on their patient list can book an appointment through them.

"In the interim, I am going to suggest to the Health Minister and Island Health that an increase in nurse practitioners for the west Cowichan area could be a stop-gap measure," said McGonigle.

"With the impending closure of the medical clinic, and the struggle to find physicians to relocate, that could be something to help take the pressure off Cowichan District [Hospital] emergency, which is already bursting at the seams.

"The problem is that there are so many who do not have a family doctor, so that is the only facility that they can utilize. I think it is important to have something implemented for the summertime given that we do have a considerable amount of people who come here for recreation whether that be concerts or to enjoy our nature."