The lack of permanent doctors in northern communities will be discussed at the annual meeting of northeastern Ontario municipalities.
Peter Falk, a town councillor in Huron Shores, plans to look at ways of addressing the issue at next month’s Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) conference.
It’s a longstanding issue for many Ontario communities, but Falk said it has hit hard in his area.
The shortage affects more than just health care, he said, as people want to live in a place that has family doctors securely in place.
Falk said he hopes to learn at FONOM what other communities are doing to boost recruitment.
“We’ve got some local clinics -- one in Thessalon, one in Bruce Mines -- that don’t have any primary care physicians (and) are currently being serviced by locums,” he said.
“We haven’t had primary care physicians in there for some time. It’s a real challenge.”
Falk said the municipality has consulted the Northern Ontario School of Medicine for residency.
But it could take years for graduates to come to Thessalon or Bruce Mines, and he seeks a shorter term answer to the problem.
The FONOM conference will be held May 8-10.
