A stipend to attract doctors to Saugeen Shores and Kincardine’s hospital emergency departments is now in use, and a plan to bring more physicians to the area has been created.
Saugeen Shores councillors heard a report from staff Monday night about a three-year pilot program that aims to ensure the ERs are never closed, and a Healthcare Partnership Program with the goal of having one family physician per 800 residents.
A $50,000 annual donation from Bruce Power, split between Kincardine and Saugeen Shores enables the the program to offer a $500 stipend to locums or physicians doing their third year of residency for some shifts they work in the Southampton or Kincardine ERs.
The stipend program officially launches this month.
Staff say in their report, it’s more than just a band-aid solution, adding, it’s encouraging mentors and those being trained to upgrade their skills. They say it’s enabling physicians who are working together to exchange knowledge and collaborate.
For every stipend shift, the resident or physician also commits to working a non-stipend shift.
One physician has already entered the program.
The other focus area is the healthcare partnership program which is receiving $100,000 from Bruce Power each year, split between Saugeen Shores and Kincardine.
It will work on recruitment through ads, videos and attendance at conferences and recruitment fairs. Its target audience includes Rural Ontario Medicine Program (ROMP) students. They’re also part of the Southern Ontario Physician Recruitment Alliance.
Eventually, the hope is the program would include a sort of ‘concierge’ service to help physicians moving to the area handle details like finding daycare, housing, setting up internet, and billing for their work etc.
The goal is to recruit a couple of physicians each year for a total of 12 in emergency departments and ten family physicians in clinics by 2032.