Meaford is looking for provincial support to create a family health team.
Deputy Mayor Shirley Keaveney was one of the municipal officials who went down to Toronto last week for the annual Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) Conference, where they met with the Ministry of Health on a way to bring more physicians to the area.
“Meaford was part of a delegation along with the Town of the Blue Mountains that was focused on securing a family health team, or an expanded family health team with the City of Owen Sound because we are one of the few areas in the province who currently does not have a family health team and as we are looking to recruit new family physicians, it’s very clear to us that this is the type of model that they wish to work within. We are very hopeful that the ministry heard us, which I think they did and that we will have some success from that delegation,” says Keaveney.
She adds the municipality is in need of about 10 more doctors in the area to help fill the gaps in local healthcare. The municipality has been undergoing physician recruitment and retention efforts, but Keaveney says they struggle to bring more doctors to the area.
“We have seen some new doctors come in, but typically they are taking over a practice from a retiring doctor. Our clinics are both full, so space is another consideration. There is room in Meaford to expand that clinic and we do have a doctor in town who has purchased a building that he is working on renovating to accommodate possibly three doctors,” says Keaveney.
She says the family health team would help the municipality stay competitive in attracting new doctors to the area as a way to not only support administrative duties, but provide a new space for healthcare professionals to treat their patients.
“It’s very important to us that we secure a family health team, whether it’s an expansion from the current team in Owen Sound, or preferably it would be a team of our own that would be connected to our hospital and to our clinics for our doctors in Meaford and Thornbury,” says Keaveney.
She says while delegations do not typically get an immediate response, she did feel the associate minister from the Ministry of Health understood what the request was about.
“I think he was very clear on an understanding of our communities and the relationship between Meaford and the Town of the Blue Mountains and our clinics and our hospital and our relationship with Brightshores,” says Keaveney. “So now we wait and see.”