Two local doctors are taking some time off to assess their career paths. Dr. Peter King and Dr. Nathan Dallalana, both of whom work out of the Boundary Medical Clinic, will be taking several months to decide if Grand Forks is where they want to continue to work. Dr. King will be leaving at the end of March and Dr. Dallalana will be waiting until the end of June. Health Services Administrator Ingrid Hampf said, “They have not made a commitment whether they are going to leave permanently.” Local health care should not be affected, Hampf added. “They have both replaced themselves with temporary physicians, “ Hampf said, “so really there will be no disruption in the medical services that Grand Forks is offering.”

Hampf also said that Grand Forks has more doctors than most communities its size. “We are very fortunate. We have a great group of physicians who actually work very well together, and now with the complement of physicians that we have, the (number of on-call days) is almost one in seven now, which is unheard of in most small communities. Most small communities struggle with providing 24/7 emergency services. So our physicians right now with the volume of physicians that we have are very comfortable in doing that.”

Dr. Peter King has announced that after a four month sabbatical, he will be returning to his practice in Grand Forks. In the meantime, his patients will be referred to Dr. O’Flannigan.