The Town of The Blue Mountains is stepping up efforts to attract new family physicians to the community.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Feb. 3, council approved terms of reference for the creation of a new Family Physicians Recruitment Working Group.
Coun. June Porter was appointed to be council’s representative on the new working group. Porter will be joined by representatives from the Northeast Grey Health Clinic and members of the general public.
The new working group will have a mandate until Dec. 31, 2025 and will report back to council at that time. Part of the report could be a request for an extension of the group’s mandate in order to continue working on the issue.
Tim Hendry, the town’s director of strategic initiatives, said the new working group will “amplify” the town’s efforts on physician recruitment.
“The town has been extremely active in our efforts for physician recruitment,” said Hendry.
Town efforts have included:
- Delegations to the Ministry of Health at the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA)
- Led the creation and actively participated in the Joint Municipal Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee
- Participated in the Rural Ontario Medical Program (ROMP) Rural Resident Retreat and Discovery Week
- Promotion of the town in the ROMP Community Rotation Guidebook
- Hosted an appreciation dinner at town hall in 2023 for Doctor Appreciation Day
After receiving the appointment to the working group, Porter said she looks forward to finding volunteers from the community to serve on the group. Porter said members will need “a strong passion and willingness to do the work.”
“It’s going to be a very hands-on working group,” said Porter.
Porter said she hopes working group volunteers will have experience in marketing, building business cases and communications/promotions.
“Attracting doctors to a community has become a competitive bidding war in Ontario and across the country,” Porter said.