London Faces Uphill Battle for New Family Doctors: recruit

The Task Force Struck to Bring More Family Doctors to London is Looking for Renewed Support from City Council and money to keep going a program that attractive six primary-care physicians to the area last year and has a line on 15 more.

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The Primary-Care Recruitment and Retention Program, An Initiative LED by the Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team, is meant to add the local family Doctor Shortage in a region where one in Four people do not have a primary-care provider.

London City Council Agreed to help Fund The Primary-Care Recruit Strategy, Giving $ 50,000 for One Year, in July 2023. Recruitment efforts Began in Early 2024.

The Group Helped London Land Six Family Doctors in 2024 and has 15 “Candidates Likely to be placed in the Next Six Months,” The Report to Council’s Community and Protective Services Committee Said.

“We are very well organized,” Said Andrea Loewen, Recruitment, Onboarding and Retention Lead for The Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team.

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“I’ll be explain this to the city councillors and the mayor and hoping they’ll continues funding this role.”

The Flow of Candidates Coming Into Ontario is Mostly Foreign-Trained Doctors Looking for Financial Support to Relocate, Said Loewen, Adding the Province’s Medical School Graduates Often Are Unwilling to Become Business Owners Running their Own Family Medicine Practice.

But unlike niagara and kingston, which provides relocation allowances to sweep the deal for foreign doctors, london does not.

The Niagara Region Recruitéed 28 Doctors in 2024, Providing Allowances of Up to $ 100,000 Each, While London Attracted Just Six.

“They’re Moving Their Whole Families. They’re choosing to go to communities that have moving allowances and incentive funds,” Loewen Said.

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“London is a great place to be a family doctor.. But somebody coming from the United Kingdom, when they look at London or Niagara or Kingston, Those Places Look Similar, But with Kingston or Niagara They’ll Get $ 100,000 to go there.”

Providing Incentives for Foreign Doctors, Even in the Short Term, Would Help London’s Family Physician Shortage, Loewen Said.

“I’m reaching out to the community at large to really problem this,” she said. “What can we do if we don it has incentive funds, or perhaps there is another source of them that we can find.”

The Primary-Care Recruitment Project also is supported by the London Economic Development Corp., Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Both London HospitalS and the Middlesex Hospital Alliance.

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The Costs of the Family Doctor Recruitment Program include Salary, Promotal Materials, Conferences and Travel.

The program hopes to build the success of its first year, but needs support – included continued funding – to make it happen, loewen said.

The Newly Elected Progressive Conservative Government also has reported it will focus on expanding primary-card Access, Loewen Said, but the exact details-and funding-remain to be seen.

“The Initial Memo That We Did Get from the Province’s Primary-Care Action Team is that they are look forward to hearing what ideas we have for them,” She Said.

Doug Ford’s PCS PROMED $ 1.4 Billion in New Funding During the Election Campaign to Connect Two Million More People to Family Doctors and Primary-Care Teams Within Four Years.

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About 25 per cent of the Population of London and Middlesex County do not have a family Doctor, approximataly 100,000 people. That’s up from an estimated 65,000 Unattached patients as of July 2023.

About 61 London Area Family Doctors, Who Care for About 85,000 Patients, Are Expected to withdraw within the Next Five Years, The Report Said.

Provincewide, More Than 2.5 million ontarians are withina number expected to include to 4.4 million by 2026 as physicians withdraws or leave practice, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Estimates.

The Report will be presented to Council’s Community and Protective Services Committee Monday.

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