South Frontenac Talks Doctor Recruitment

Jeff Green | Jan 11, 2023

Dr. Jeanette Dietrich of the Sydenham Medical Clinic is also the Lead Physician for the Rural Kingston Family Health Organisation.

In that role, she has been advocating with local Frontenac Municipalities for support in developing a co-ordinated Doctor recruitment effort to address the physician shortage in Frontenac County and the threat that the shortage will become more acute as local physician's retire in the coming years.

Last March, she met with the Frontenac Mayors to discuss issues, and this week she made a presentation to South Frontenac Council.

Her presentation outlined the problem faced by local clinics, and at some of the pieces that need to be in place in order to address it.

She pointed to two key realities in her presentation. The population in Frontenac County is older than the population in the rest of the Province, and that has implications for the amount of medical services that are required now, and into the future. South Frontenac, with 17.8% of the population being oer 65, is the closest to the provincial average, which is 16.3%, but Central Frontenac (26.4%) and North Frontenac (36.9%) are well above.

The other is the current and pending doctor shortage. The most acute current shortage is in Verona, where Dr. Sabra Gibbens, with help from one part-time contract doctor, cares for 2,600 patients. In Sharbot Lake, Dr. Peter Bell and one full time doctor under contract, Dr. Danny Cunic, care for 3,000 patients, and at the Sydenham Clinic, Dr's Dietrich, Ingo and Raleigh care for 4,000 patients.

There is an immediate need for 1-2 physicians in Sharbot Lake, as Dr. Bell is in his 52nd year of his local practice and is nearing 80. There is also an immediate need in Verona, as there are two many patients for the available resources. In Sydenham, the need is a bit more long term, but two of the three physicians at the clinic will reach retirement age within the next 5 years.

And there is a lot of competition for a limited supply of doctor's.

Dr. Dietrich pointed out that the City of Kingston has put in place a $100,000 incentive for doctor's to fill positions in family practice, $20,000 per year for a 5 year commitment, Sharbot Lake has an $88,000 singing bonus from the Ministry of Health due to its rural designation, and North Frontenac has a higher bonus and a township commitment on top of that to help recruit for the Lakelands Family Health Team in Northbrook, which serves the bulk of its population, but there is no bonus in place in South Frontenac.

A $100,000 bonus would put South Frontenac on par with Kingston, and create a more or less level playing field across the region.

She also asked that the township consider contributing, or hosting, a part-time physican recruiter, invest some money into particpating at physician job fairs, and look at expanding their commitmen to physical infrastructure.

The township purchased the Verona Clinic a decade ago. The lease for the Sydenham Clinic, which was purpose built for the practice, runs out in 2027, and the most populous district in the township, Storrington, does not have a clinic at all. In Dr. Dietrich's presentation, under clinics, Inverary is listed as “under development”.

Although she came to council looking for financial and human resources commitments, Dr. Dietgrich also pointed out in her presentation that South Frontenac has many advantages when you look at what recent medical school graduates say they are looking for. Affiliation with a Family Health Organisation is identified as a highly important preference by 80% of family medicine graduates in Ontario. Over 60% cite work opportunities for their spouses as a priority and the proximity to Kingston makes South Frontenac attractive in that regard.

(For details regarding council response to Dr. Dietrich's presentation, look to next week's print edition of the Frontenac News or go to Frontenacnews.ca, where an update will be posted after the council meeting)