Heather Latter
The local Physician Recruitment Committee is continuing its efforts to bring more doctors to Rainy River District.
Allan Katz, CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc., noted he, Dr. Jason Shack, and physician recruiter Todd Hamilton attended Health Force Ontario’s Health Professionals Recruitment Tour earlier this fall and that Hamilton is following up with all of the potential candidates.
“That does not necessarily happen overnight so we are in the process of developing relationships, and communicating recruitment incentives and other opportunities with everybody that we met,” Katz explained, though adding some expressed a little bit more of an interest in coming to Northern Ontario than others.
“Todd continues to follow up with those physicians, as well,” he said.
Katz also said he continues to be encouraged.
“There’s a tremendous amount of great students out there,” he remarked. “Many of them will be graduating in the summer of 2013 and they’re all in the process of assessing opportunities.”
The Health Professionals Recruitment Tour saw the trio attending sessions in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Kingston, and Ottawa.
Katz noted each event is similar to a trade show.
“You walk into a very large room and there are long tables laid out in rows,” he recounted, noting every community in the province that is considered under-serviced is invited to attend.
“And that is many communities,” he stressed. “They all have banners. They all have displays. They all give away pens and key chains.
“They all have literature. And some have bags, candy, and food.
“And everybody stands in front of their booth, bright-eyed and with nice smiles, and they sit back and wait for the students to go up and down the aisles and see where there’s an interest,” he added.
Katz said there were some students who came by the Fort Frances booth who are training in a service not offered here.
“We don’t have psychiatric beds here in Fort Frances and we did see some psychiatrists on the tour,” he noted.
“So we brought them physically to the Thunder Bay booth and to the Kenora booth because they are the ones looking for psychiatrists to serve our communities.
“We didn’t want to lose an opportunity,” Katz stressed. “If we saw a specialist who was interested in our region, but we didn’t have a need for because we don’t offer the service, we didn’t just let them walk by.
“We brought them to another location and encouraged them to sit down and chat with other people.”
Katz said the other recruiters from this region reciprocated by directing students to the Fort Frances booth.
“I think the spirit of co-operation and collaboration is really important, particularly because we’re all looking for the best possible health-care system,” he reasoned.
“If we can’t increase the numbers in Fort Frances, Emo, or Rainy River, at least they are coming to Northwestern Ontario and that will benefit the region as a whole.”
Katz said it’s too early to provide names of physicians the recruitment committee is looking at, but revealed they have a list of more than 10 names they’re following up with.
“Some who are familiar with Fort Frances, some who have come through Fort Frances on their travels or they are familiar with Fort Frances because they’ve done student practicums in other parts of Northwestern Ontario,” he explained.
He noted one of the benefits of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine in Thunder Bay is that the communities of Northwestern Ontario are very well-represented there.
“There’s an awareness of our need,” he said.
While on the tour, Katz also learned the incentive packages offered by the local recruitment committee is competitive with the rest of the province.
“We are quite competitive with many other communities in northern and southern Ontario,” he remarked.
Katz said the committee is looking for the right combination of students with an interest in Northern Ontario; and perhaps with a background in Northern Ontario.
“Somebody who’s from the north who wants to come back to the north would be ideal,” he reasoned.
“But there are people from southern Ontario who are interested in coming into Northwestern Ontario and we’re pursuing them all equally.”
