Physician Recruitment

Temiskaming Hospital Press Release

Temiskaming Shores, ON June 3,2009 - Physician shortages are not unique to the District of Temiskaming. Many communities throughout the province are facing shortages and are working hard to recruit and retain physicians.

This area is short three (3) family physicians in Haileybury, four (4) family physicians in New Liskeard, two (2) full-time ER physicians and one (1) psychiatrist. With the number of family physician vacancies in the area, it is estimated that anywhere from 5,000 to 6,000 people in the community are without a family doctor.

Over the past couple of years, Temiskaming Hospital has worked with its community partners to build a strong recruitment and retention program to address the shortage of physicians in the area. One of the main initiatives the committee has been working on is an incentive program which is a key component to attracting new physicians to the area. And, with other communities trying to recruit potentially the same physicians, the competition is fierce and therefore the incentive program has to be comparable to that of other communities.

The key players from the Temiskaming Shores and Area Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee that are contributing to the funding of the incentive program are the City of Temiskaming Shores, Temiskaming Hospital, the Centre de santé communautaires du Timiskaming and the physicians. The area's physicians have committed to donating $1000 each on an annual basis for a period of five years.

Another very important initiative the committee has been working on is seeking designation for a Family Health Team in New Liskeard. Family Health Teams are made up of a number of health care professionals that work together to provide a full range of family health care services to a defined population, the majority of which do not currently have a primary health care provider. In Temiskaming Shores and Area, this represents 5,000 to 6,000 orphaned patients.

If you would like to help with the recruitment initiatives locally, whether it be to make a donation to the recruitment incentive fund or to help out in other ways, please call Shirley Watchorn, Recruitment Coordinator, at (705) 647-1088, extension 2221.

For more information on recruitment initiatives, please visit the Temiskaming Hospital's website.