Elliot Lake is in a similar situation as many Ontario communities with a shortfall of doctors to service the population despite promoting itself as a retirement community.
That is the reality that Brent and Heather Sleightholm have come to realize since moving here last June. The couple doesn’t suffer from any serious medical problems, but they would like to find a local doctor to take care of their needs in retirement.
Their next step, after the move, was to seek out people they had dealt with to try to set the wheels in motion to find a local doctor they could use.
After contacting the Elliot Lake Family Health Team (FHT), Sleightholm was informed that doctors are not accepting new patients.
It was suggested the couple call St. Joseph General Hospital and ask about getting their medical records transferred from their doctor in Paris, Ont. The couple was hesitant to do that because of the potential that in doing such a transfer they would lose the doctor they currently have. They received no response from their hospital inquiries.
The Sleightholms are on a fixed income and would prefer to avoid the cost to see their doctor twice a year which runs them about S1,000 per trip.
“This city makes itself to be one of the big retirement centres in Canada and I believe it is,” he said. “If you’re going to say you’re a retirement place then you should be able to provide more services,” said Sleightholm.
He also contends those working to attract new people to the community should make them aware of the difficulties that can be faced in securing a local doctor.
The couple has also emailed their concerns to Mayor Dan Marchisella.
The mayor acknowledged the city currently pays $50,000 for a physician recruiter in a bid to bring in more doctors. Recruiter Caron Senese has been working as the Family Health Team’s doctor recruiter for the past two-and-half years. He noted in his email to the couple that the situation might improve within the next couple of years.
It’s recognized by the mayor and those involved with doctor recruitment that, “the province is not putting enough money into a plan to entice more doctors to this area.”
In her tenure, Senese has brought in two doctors, a nurse practitioner and many locums (temporary doctors) that provide service, according to the mayor.
Doctor recruitment, she is quick to point out, has many variables that can make it successful.
The FHT has an affiliation with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) in a joint venture with Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and Laurentian University in Sudbury. NOSM offers a world class four-year MD medical program.
Currently the health team has 10 doctors with a maximum of 12 doctors allowed under terms of the family health team regulations.
The city is considered “under-serviced”, said health team executive director Jeff Moulton.
It’s a scenario he and the doctor recruiter and others sitting on the FHT board would like to see changed.
“Every year we get in about 16 second-year students. They come in two groups,” Senese said. “We get a lot of doctor residents, so there are a lot of medical students that we talk to. A lot of them know where they want to go and we tend to try to narrow it down to the ones who are interested in Elliot Lake.”
“We have a lot of locums,” she added. “They may be here for a two-week basis or a little longer. Locums go from community to community to see what is a good fit for them. “
It’s a situation that can’t be fully relied on as residents and locums, like most people looking for jobs, can change their minds about a location based on what their experience is. The city is prepared to offer incentives to doctors willing to locate here, among them, housing for the first year, free passes to local amenities like the ski hill and golf course and possible jobs should the candidate have a partner or spouse willing to move here also.
Senese said the community is fortunate that none of its 10 doctors has indicated an interest in retiring. Ministry of Health requirements state that should a doctor consider retirement 90-days notice is needed.
According to Moulton and Senese many residents are unaware of the workload put on doctors in the community who are often on different rotations, including emergency room coverage, in-patient hospital coverage, and taking care of their regular patients.
Moulton said the fact the community promotes itself as a retirement community is equally reflected in the numbers already who have a family doctor.
“All the patients who are rostered with physicians here, about 55 to 60 per cent, are over 65 which brings in multiple health issues,” he said.
Moulton said people can also log onto the health care connect website to register a need for a doctor. The health care connect website currently has about 50 people seeking doctors in Elliot Lake and names provided through the site are regularly given to local doctors who then decide whether they are prepared to take on new patients.
Both are confident recruitment efforts will prove successful, however, no prediction for when a new doctor might be in place were made in an interview with ElliotLakeToday.