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INUVIK - After more than a decade of service in the region, Dr. Mike Mulherin has left the North.

Mulherin, who originally came to Inuvik in 1997, started his family in Inuvik and cemented his place in the memories of his patients and friends over the years.

Dr. Mike Mulherin, his wife Kathleen and their three boys Alden, Henry and Linus left town this past week after spending 11 years in Inuvik. Mulherin said he enjoyed the time in the North, where he started his family and honed his skills as a medical professional. - Dez Loreen/NNSL photo

Mulherin and his wife Kathleen, along with their three sons, Linus, Alden and Henry left on Friday afternoon back home to Nova Scotia.

Mulherin remembers his first week in town in August 1997.

"Our first weekend in town was the crash-up derby," he said.

Mulherin said he and his wife were fresh out of school when they arrived to start their new lives in the North.

"I started off as a staff doctor, getting to know the people in town," he said.

Mulherin said when they first got to town he wasn't sure how long they would be staying.

"We planned on being here for a year, to pay some bills, and here we are 11 and a half years later," he said.

Since starting in Inuvik, Mulherin said he has seen the new hospital become active, but he said it's not the building that makes a hospital successful.

"Infrastructure is not what makes a community, or what makes a hospital better, it's the people involved," he said.

"This is a great place to become a doctor. There is so much going on."

Mulherin said he will remember the people he's met over the years.

"There are great people here and always have been," he said. "We raised our sons here in the school and we'll miss it."

Michael Drescher Sr., one of his patients in town, said his experiences with Mulherin were always comforting and friendly.

"He is one of the most decent doctors I've dealt with," said Drescher.

"He was a good man who formed relationships with his patients. We weren't just numbers to him."

Drescher said the doctor will be missed and wished him well in his future. Dr. Braam de Klerk, medical director at Inuvik Regional Hospital, said he remembered when Mulherin started in Inuvik back in 1997.

"It was myself and Dr. MacNeil who hired him," said de Klerk. "He came for a year and that was expanded greatly."

Mulherin rose in the ranks at the hospital, eventually becoming chief of staff.

"He was also one of our most dependable doctors," said de Klerk. "Obviously he will be missed a lot."

De Klerk said it's going to be hard for the next doctor to fill the shoes of Mulherin, who was always available to those who needed him.

"You can't replace that sort of guy easily. He had over 10 years of experience in the North, with his patients," said de Klerk.

"His wife was an occupational therapist. She worked here in the hospital for some time, too. When you lose those sorts of people, there really is a gap left in the community."

De Klerk said the vacant role will need to be filled, along with the other open doctor positions in the region.

"Like most other communities in the North, Inuvik has a doctor shortage," he said.

Right now, there are nine positions in Inuvik for doctors, with only four filled.

"The last time we had a full staff of nine doctors was in 2004," said de Klerk.

If the situation doesn't improve in the next few years, de Klerk said the people of Inuvik might have to travel to Yellowknife for their medical needs.