Three northern municipalities are working together to recruit physicians, but several are still needed to meet the demand.
Abbigail Brennan is the physician recruitment specialist for the Boreal Pulse Healthcare Attraction Team, a not-for-profit organization covering the areas of Black River-Matheson, Iroquois Falls and Cochrane.
The team has had recent successes, including recruiting a new doctor in Cochrane, who started this week.
SEE: Cochrane healthcare team adds new physician
However, Brennan said the three municipalities need about eight more physicians.
Cochrane currently has two physicians, while Iroquois Falls has three, along with a physician assistant and Matheson has two.
“We definitely have multiple retirements that we are hopefully succession planning for,” Brennan said.
Despite being eligible for retirement, many of the current doctors are still working, she said.
Brennan highlighted the challenges the municipalities face regarding healthcare access.
“The three municipalities already kind of form the healthcare network between their three hospitals called MICs Group of Health Services,” she said.
However, she noted that the provincial allocation of healthcare resources does not necessarily mandate hospitals to recruit primary care physicians.
“The way that healthcare is allocated provincially is the hospital doesn't necessarily have a mandate to recruit for primary care,” she said.
Brennan estimates that “over 50 per cent of the regional population does not have a family physician in their area, easily accessible to them.”
She emphasized that this has made recruiting family doctors a significant need.
Incentives and community collaboration
Each of the communities has a physician recruitment incentive package that is completely confidential, Brennan said.
“Each community is responsible for their own package that they want to put together,” she said.
Incentive-wise, Brennan pointed out that there are smaller communities “doing big things.”
“Even if we look at compensation for things like ER shifts, typically smaller communities that are outside of easy access to specialties or CAT scan machines, things like that, physicians are often compensated for their time,” she said.
Brennan emphasized that while the province has some initiatives to assist with recruitment, they are often insufficient.
“Each municipality throughout the province, throughout Canada, has taken on different initiatives to make sure that they are now part of this competitive landscape to actually recruit physicians to their area,” she said.
Without such efforts, communities risk falling behind, Brennan said.
As vice chair of the northeastern division of the Ontario Physician Recruitment Alliance (OPRA), Brennan also collaborates with other municipalities, including North Bay and Hearst, to attract healthcare professionals.
“We’re engaged in international recruitment events, primarily targeting physicians from the UK,” she said.
The effort's evolution
Boreal Pulse originated as the Worker Bees in 2019 in Black River-Matheson. After a change in local governance led to the committee’s dissolution, the three municipalities recognized the need to continue the initiative, Brennan said.
“They formed the Frontier Spirit Physician Recruitment Team, which rebranded to the Boreal Pulse Healthcare Attraction Team when we pursued becoming a not-for-profit corporation in August,” she said.
The name change was intentional, Brennan noted.
“We wanted to make sure that the name was reflective of the region, but we also wanted to make sure that it wasn't tying us down to only physicians,” she said.
This broader focus is essential as the region prepares for the upcoming South Centennial Manor, a 96-bed facility in Iroquois Falls, which will require a significant number of nursing and allied health staff, Brennan said.
SEE: Iroquois Falls long-term care home looks to Cochrane for redevelopment cash
Partners in the Boreal Pulse initiative include the municipalities of Cochrane, Iroquois Falls, and Matheson, the MICs Group of Health Services as well as the Cochrane and Iroquois Falls family health teams.
Brennan is optimistic about the future of healthcare recruitment in the region.
“We are making huge strides,” she said, highlighting upcoming community assessment visits for potential candidates.
“We do have a lot of interest right now,” she said, noting that the team is focused on addressing urgent vacancies while also planning for future needs.
