Title
Physician Recruitment Update.
Dr. Stu Murdoch and Jaclyn Bell, provided an update on physician recruitment for the Barrie Area. Ms. Bell described the Barrie area physician recruitment in 2012/2013.
Dr. Murdoch detailed the Family Medicine Teaching Unit recruitment strategy.
Ms. Bell provided details related to current and future recruitment needs, including the number of physicians nearing retirement adding to the increase need to attract physicians to the area. She indicated that 10 new physicians helped 8000 people find family physicians and that 3 of the physicians took over existing practices.
Dr. Murdoch provided additional details related to the recruitment strategy including advertising and participation in job fairs. He noted that unlike other municipalities the task force does not provide financial incentives for doctors to relocate to the Barrie area, as it doesn't generally contribute to retention of doctors. He noted that the retention of physicians in the Barrie area is quite high.
In closing, Ms. Bell thanked the City of Barrie for its past support and requested continued support of the Physician Recruitment Program.
Members of City Council asked several questions and received responses from the presenters and the Council representative on the Physician Recruitment Task Force.