New doctor to join clinic

The number of resident physicians working out of the Fort Frances Clinic will get a boost in mid-June when Dr. Peter Mikhail joins the staff roster there.
His appointment will bring the clinic’s complement of general practitioners to nine (not including two resident surgeons), which is edging closer to the optimum total of 12 full-time doctors clinic president Dr. Robert Algie is hoping for.
“We have a signed contract with Dr. Mikhail and a verbal commitment for a couple more after Labour Day,” he noted Monday.
With Dr. Mikhail on staff, and two other general practitioners in sight, the final position left to fill is the one designated for a general practitioner/anesthetist.
Dr. Robert Nugent, who has been on locum at the clinic here for several months, currently fits that bill but whether he will stay here past March is still unknown.
“Dr. Nugent has not committed yet. If he [doesn’t], we’ll still be recruiting for one g.p./anesthetist position,” Dr. Algie said.
Dr. Mikhail was hired through a community recruitment committee comprised of reps from the town, Riverside Health Care Facilities Inc., Abitibi-Consolidated, and the clinic.
Clinic administrator Maureen Gartshore said it couldn’t be stressed enough how important a role members of the entire committee played in securing Dr. Mikhail here.
“It was a real community effort. They were big supporters in this [initiative],” she noted yesterday.
Gartshore said it will be a couple of weeks before further confirmation is available on the status of two of the other three doctor positions being recruited for here.