The old saying goes that good things come to those who wait.
Thousands of County residents without a family doctor hope that rings true after news broke this week that the Highlands will welcome two new primary care physicians in early 2025.
Dr. Mimi Van Der Leden will join Dr. Lesslie Ponraja at the Kinmount and District Health Centre (KDHC) full-time in February, while Dr. Sharysse Kayoumedjian is taking on a part-time role with the Haliburton Family Medical Centre, arriving in March.
It’s the best bit of news many will have heard all year. At the Haliburton practice, this will be the first new addition in more than three years, according to Dr. Norm Bottum. He said Kayoumedjian will be partially taking over Dr. Christina Stephenson’s practice following her July 2023 retirement.
In Kinmount, this will be the first time in several years the clinic has boasted two permanent, full-time, non-retiring physicians. Susan Forrester, a KDHC volunteer, said the clinic connected with Van Der Leden over the summer after generating the lead via British Columbia-based recruitment firm Physicians for You. She said KDHC has been working with the organization for several years, also helping to recruit Ponraja,
The clinic uses community donations to pay for the service – though it’s contractually obligated not to reveal the sums paid, we suggest its money well spent considering the return.
It begs the question, though – why does physician recruitment, and more pointedly the costs involved, fall almost exclusively on communities? As Bottum puts it in today’s front-page story, it’s due to decades of underfunding by the provincial government.
Eyes will have rolled earlier this month when the province seemed to take credit for what it believes to be a solution, announcing the first batch of internationally-trained physicians arriving via the new Practice Ready Ontario program. Essentially, it provides a pathway for qualified doctors to fast-track applications to move to, and begin practising in, Ontario.
It’s a good initiative – those who qualify are required to complete a three-year return of service as a family physician in a rural or northern community. Twenty-one communities have benefitted so far, including in the far north, Sudbury, Gore Bay, and Cochrane.
Where it falls down is communities, still, are effectively left in a bidding war trying to lure a doctor. I’ve heard of places offering to buy doctors’ houses or cars if they commit to relocating, while others simply cut a cheque – usually in the five or six figures.
That means communities such as Kinmount and Haliburton County often become afterthoughts. The two local practices deserve tremendous praise for being able to beat out literally hundreds of other communities in welcoming Van Der Leden and Kayoumedjian.
Bottum suggests the problem won’t get any better until the province ramps up its commitment to train and graduate more doctors in Ontario. A recently announced $88 million Learn and Stay program will provide grants for 1,360 eligible Canadian undergraduates who commit to practising family medicine with a full roster of patients upon graduation.
It’s estimated the investment will connect an additional 1.36 million people to primary care by 2028. Important, considering the Ontario Medical Association says 2.3 million people in Ontario don’t have a family doctor. That number is expected to double over the next two years.
With Bottum saying the Haliburton practice could do with another three or four physicians, and KDHC actively recruiting for a third doctor, here’s hoping there’s even more good news come the new year.
