Doc recruiters seek City cash

Sault Ste. Marie’s Physician Recruitment and Retention Office will present a progress report (and make a funding request to support its’ ongoing work) to City Council Monday.

The group will request a total of $464,000 from the City for its’ 2013-2014 operating budget.

Sault Area Hospital (SAH) and Group Health Centre (GHC) will also each contribute $100,000 in funding for the Physician Recruitment and Retention Office.

$370,000 of the group’s operating costs would go towards recruitment incentives and costs.

Salaries and benefits would take up another $138,000, site visits to showcase Sault Ste. Marie to doctors would account for $33,000, while another $30,000 would be spent on retention activities and initiatives. 

A report to Council from the Office’s Christine Pagnucco states that as a result of recent recruitment efforts, there are verbal commitments to practice medicine in Sault Ste. Marie from three psychiatrists, an oncologist and an ophthalmology resident.  The Office is also awaiting decisions regarding practice locations from a general internist and family physician.

2012-2013 was a good year for doctor recruitment, as 13 physicians set up practice in the community, five of them in Family Medicine.

2011-2012 was Physician Recruitment and Retention’s most successful, with 14 physicians recruited, 10 in Family Medicine.

The group is planning to be in attendance at a number of recruitment events this year, most of them in Southern Ontario centres. 

Effort also has gone into doctor retention initiatives, such as a golf tournament, a photography contest for doctors and ski events.

The report to Council states that while 85 full-time physicians have been recruited since Physician Recruitment and Retention’s efforts began in 2002, the group continues its’ efforts to recruit and retain medical professionals in the community, keeping in mind many local doctors are approaching retirement.

Tweet