It’s no secret that there is a doctor shortage in Norfolk County and all across Ontario – but how do you tackle that issue?
Tuesday night at council, our elected officials were asked to set aside $250,000 – which will be provided through Safe Restart Funding – so that it could be used for Physician Recruitment.
Right now, there is a Norfolk County Primary Physician Recruitment Committee that meets with the goal of attracting doctors to Norfolk and consists of many local doctors, the hospital, and healthcare teams.
They will meet and provide recommendations for council to consider moving forward.
It was mentioned in a few different ways that other municipalities are dealing with this situation, such as offering to pay off a student loan or providing housing.
Port Dover councillor Adam Veri understands that doctors are important but is hesitant about spending this much money to attract them to Norfolk.
Veri was told about other municipalities doing a similar thing right now to try and attract doctors to their community, and wonders if that will just create a vicious cycle.
CAO Al Maneses talked about the committee and how they will be looking at every way to attract doctors here and realize that Norfolk will need a grassroots initiative – like a suggestion by Mayor Amy Martin about possibly making investments into the future by paying for a local student to go to school to become a doctor if they agree to come back and open up a practice in Norfolk.
The motion was ultimately approved, and our elected officials will receive quarterly updates from the committee.