Doctor recruiting must shape up: council

Doctor recruitment efforts here will have to be stepped up if they are to continue to receive annual funding from the Town of Fort Frances.
Each year, the town makes a contribution of roughly $67,000 in the form of an annual grant to La Verendrye Hospital to be applied towards the cost of physician recruitment services provided through the local physician recruitment and retention committee.

But after an in-camera committee of the whole meeting yesterday afternoon, town council unanimously passed a resolution stating:
“Council hereby resolves that the annual grant to the La Verendrye General Hospital continue to be applied to the costs of doctor recruitment contingent upon a revision and enhancement of the current model of the doctor recruitment committee.”
“We’ll continue to provide money for doctor recruitment, but we’ll expect the model to be revisited, revised, and enhanced in the best interests of recruiting physicians to the area,” said Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig.
“The town is very keen on seeing things done somewhat differently in regards to recruitment,” he stressed.
After the meeting, Mayor Roy Avis explained the town annually reviews the efforts of the doctor recruitment committee but has found it hasn’t been successful—and needs to change for the better.
“This certain committee has been operating for quite a number of years, and it’s always wise as a municipality to look at the services we provide and review them,” the mayor noted.
“This council looked at it and felt we should maybe recommend a change in the model, and put a resolution forward to make it better, to enhance it.
“We haven’t received any doctors at the present time, we haven’t received any full-time doctors,” Mayor Avis added.
“What we’re trying to do is enhance our system to attract new doctors.”
When asked later what specific revisions or enhancements the town was seeking, Mayor Avis replied there hasn’t been “any concrete decisions made in that area.”
“But there is some issues council saw and wants to have addressed, and those issues will be brought forward at the next recruitment meeting,” he remarked.
The annual grant is put into a pool of funds for doctor recruitment and retention, which among other things, helps fund an incentive package for new doctors, with signing bonuses and “quality of life” benefits, like golf course, gym, and curling memberships, a boat slip, “tour de Fort” passports, and the like.
The grant is, in reality, a capital grant for La Verendrye Hospital—the result of a long-standing agreement between the town and hospital.
The agreement stems back to 1941, when it was struck between the Sisters of Charity and the town. Its purpose was to provide electricity and telephone service without charge to facilitate the construction of the hospital here.
Then in 1975, the agreement was re-worded to specify La Verendrye Hospital and not Sisters of Charity.
It was tweaked again in 1983, when the amount paid was increased to account for rising water, sewer, and electricity costs.
But a few years ago, Riverside suggested the grant be earmarked for physician recruitment and retention purposes to help address the doctor shortage, and the town agreed.
The local physician recruitment team includes partners from the town, the Fort Frances Community Clinic, Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc., Nelson Medicine Professional Corp., AbitibiBowater, and the Rainy River District School Board.