Why this American doctor is leaving Utah to serve a remote community in B.C.

Alanna Kelly · CBC News

· Posted: Aug 12, 2026 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: August 12

American physician Leo Bay and his family are busy boxing up their belongings and getting ready to leave their home in Utah.

"It's a big move, but it's an exciting move," Bay said.

They've decided to move to Canada where Bay will work as a family doctor on the Sunshine Coast.

When he, his wife and their three children first got off the ferry to visit Pender Harbour, they knew instantly it was where they wanted to live.

"We fell in love with the Sunshine Coast," Bay said.

Bay has been practising medicine for eight years and has worked with remote communities as the associate chief medical information officer for Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.

At the end of August, he starts at the Pender Harbour Health Centre providing care to 1,000 people in the remote B.C. coastal community.

"The opportunity to be able to live and work in that community is so exciting and so meaningful," Bay said.

• B.C. has recruited more than 140 health-care workers from the U.S., minister says

Why Canada?

Bay said he's looking forward to focusing on patient care.

"I think that there are lots of things within the U.S. health system that as a primary care doctor we struggle with," he said. "Insurances in the U.S. only cover very limited portions of things or have very strict restrictions."

The idea of coming to Canada five years ago would have been disruptive, he said, and felt impossible.

Back in July 2025, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. implemented bylaw changes that help U.S.-trained doctors become fully licensed in B.C. without the need for further assessment, examination or training if they hold certification from the American Board of Medical Specialties, American Board of Family Medicine or the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians.

B.C.'s Ministry of Health launched a $5-million digital advertising blitz in June 2025, targeting health workers in Washington state, Oregon and California. Ads have also been running in U.S. academic publications through September.

"Seeing the programs that were available, that really made a difference in making it feel like something that was feasible," Bay said.

According to the Ministry of Health, more than 580 U.S. health-care workers, including 270 physicians, have accepted job offers in communities throughout B.C. as of March 2026.

"B.C. now has the most doctors per capita in Canada with more than 15,000 physicians, an increase of 23 per cent from 2017 to 2024," said the ministry.

4 new doctors to Sunshine Coast

At the Pender Harbour Health Centre, Bay will be in the company of a fellow American who also moved to Canada.

Dr. Derek Williams, who has been practising medicine for 25 years, moved from Montana earlier this year.

Nick Gaskin, executive director at the centre, said they only had one part-time physician serving 500 people before the two new physicians joined.

"To have 2,000 members of our community attached to physicians at this clinic is going to be fantastic," Gaskin said.

The remote nature of the community has posed a challenge to attract and retain physicians over the years, he said.

"I think the political landscape certainly makes a difference. I also think that we live in a different world right now where people are moving around," Gaskin said.

Two other doctors have also moved to the Sunshine Coast — one from Ohio and another from the U.K. — and a nurse practitioner will soon be arriving.

WATCH | 400 doctors, nurses have relocated from U.S. to B.C. in last year:

Lyndsay Montina, the executive director of Sunshine Coast Division of Family Practice, said there has long been a doctor shortage in B.C.

"We've had some people that have been waiting for a family care provider for quite a long time, and so being able to have these new providers come, it's awesome," Montina said.

People who are looking for a family physician can visit the Health Connect registry.