FOCUS ON DOCTOR RECRUITMENT
By Kirk Winter
The Kawartha Lakes Family Doctor Recruitment initiative reported to Council during a special meeting on October 29. While much has been accomplished by this volunteer group in recruiting and retaining family doctors, they were the first to admit that there is much more to do.
Like most rural areas in Ontario, there is a pressing need for family physicians in CKL. Currently, 28,000 residents have no access to a primary care physician, crowding walk-in clinics and the Emergency Room at Ross Memorial on a daily basis.
The group reported that their vision remains that everyone living in CKL has access to a family doctor. They went on to say that they continue to recruit and retain family doctors for CKL.
The group is particularly proud of the 37 doctors that they have recruited since 2003. Studies have shown that access to family doctors contributes to a healthy community. Access to primary care doctors for employees is also an important criterion for new companies/industries inquiring about setting up in CKL. A provincial study showed that for every doctor available in a community, that doctor generates between a half million and a million dollars in economic activity by his/her mere presence.
The local Family Doctor Recruitment initiative attends provincial job fairs and keeps in close contact with the five southern Ontario medical schools. They are proud of the relationships that they have built with both University of Toronto and Queen’s University in an attempt to recruit doctors just graduated. Doctor Appreciation Week in CKL was started by the KLFDR in an attempt to retain the doctors the city currently has.
A few years ago, I spoke with a number of local family doctors about the challenges to recruiting new doctors to rural Ontario. They shared the following challenges:
Limited work opportunities for spouses
Very little ethnic diversity – not reflective of those graduating medical programs in 2019
Requirements to staff local hospital outside of office hours to keep admissions privileges is too onerous
Lack of recreational and cultural outlets
Too far from family
Too many practices are over represented with aged patients, and if you were looking for a practice with a cross section of all ages to assist, urban areas offer that more readily
Lack of access to specialists
Other news outlets have reported new doctors being “wined and dined” like hockey free agents, being offered subsidized rent, signing bonuses, work for their spouses and other attractive reasons to select one community over another.
A couple of underserviced communities have offered tuition subsidies or paid tuition to local students who have been accepted into medical science programs, in exchange for them returning home to practice.
The KLFDR is also looking for your assistance. They are looking for motivated individuals to join their board and assist in their recruiting and retention initiatives. If interested, contact City Hall and they can put you in touch with this worthwhile and important community organization.