The volunteer executive charged with recruiting and retaining doctors in Kinmount say they hope to bring at least one new physician to the community next year – and now they have the funds to pull it off.

Kim Restivo Galea and Susan Forrester have been working with the Kinmount District Health Services Foundation (KDHSF) for years to bolster health services in the area. They were at the 26th annual Journey for Health fundraiser at Austin Sawmill Park Aug. 11, which saw approximately 100 participants raise just over $14,000.

That will pay just over a third of the relocation fee KDHSF offers new recruits – Restivo Galea said the community provides a one-time $30,000 bonus to new family physicians and also covers costs for site visits, while assisting with necessities such as house hunting, securing a vehicle and getting settled in.

“Competition is extremely stiff between is committed to finding two more physicians to bring to Kinmount. “We can help physicians fill out the paperwork to have their credentials vetted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. We also complete a labour market impact assessment to show we couldn’t get a Canadian doctor to work here,” Forrester said. “We’re one of the closest locations to the GTA that qualifies for the Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative… which can earn physicians up to an additional $88,000.” Forrester is optimistic – two foreign doctors recently completed site visits in Kinmount and are considering the community. municipalities competing for physicians. We want to be able to offer a competitive relocation incentive – we have to do that if we have any hope of someone coming here to practice,” Forrester said. “We like to have enough money in our budget so that if a doctor says yes, we can proceed right away.”

It’s not as simple as someone handing in notice at their current position, hopping in a car and driving to cottage country, though. Forrester said the 10 leads the foundation has had over the past year – doctors who have shown an interest in working in Kinmount, all live overseas.

While that brings challenges, Forrester said searching internationally is the only realistic way to fill much-needed positions. Kinmount welcomed Dr. Lesslie Ponraja, an immigrant from the UK, in February 2023. He’s fit in well at the health centre, assuming the practice following Dr. Elena Mihu’s retirement last summer.

With approximately 2,000 patients on Ponraja’s rota, Forrester said the foundation is committed to finding two more physicians to bring to Kinmount.

“We can help physicians fill out the paperwork to have their credentials vetted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. We also complete a labour market impact assessment to show we couldn’t get a Canadian doctor to work here,” Forrester said. “We’re one of the closest locations to the GTA that qualifies for the Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative… which can earn physicians up to an additional $88,000.”

Forrester is optimistic – two foreign doctors recently completed site visits in Kinmount and are considering the community.

“They just need to decide if it’s Kinmount or somewhere else – they always have multiple offers,” she said.

Several physicians currently working elsewhere in Canada have also been in touch, liking the idea of working the twilight years of their career in cottage country.

“We are on the map now, which is just awesome,” Restivo Galea said. “It really helps having Dr. Ponraja here, because he’s proof this works. He’s moved from another country and is thriving in Kinmount.”

Some of the funds from this year’s fundraiser will go to upgrades at the clinic.

Forrester thanked the community for supporting this year’s record-breaking fundraiser, which she said saw considerable support from the Minden community still reeling from the loss of its emergency department.

“For a lot of people, we don’t have a local hospital. Our clinic is all we have. We’re so far away from other medical services, the health and future of our community depends on the success of the health centre,” she said. “Our hope is, someday, we won’t have to do this. We want the government to fix healthcare so we don’t have to ask local people for support.”

The Haliburton Highlands Health Services Foundation will be having its Radiothon Aug. 15 and 16. The Radiothon will again be hosted by 93.5 MooseFM. The intent is to improve healthcare by bringing mammography services to the Haliburton hospital.

Melanie Klodt Wong, executive director of the Foundation said, “Radiothon has been an amazing staple in the community for raising funds. We’re really grateful to MooseFM for hosting and for Minden Subaru for being a corporate sponsor and allowing us to take over the radio station for two days and do marathon, 12-hour days, to raise as much money as we can. I think what’s important to community is that it gets people excited about what we’re raising money for.”

In the Highlands, at least 6,000 women don’t have access to regular breast cancer screenings. They need to travel outside of the County in order to get mammograms.

The Radiothon will feature interviews with survivors, who will talk about the importance of screening, health care specialists, and those who have been touched by the healthcare they’ve received at HHHS.

Richard Muir is one of those patients whose life was saved while in care at the Haliburton hospital. He will be matching donations up to $100,000 for the Radiothon.

Muir is a businessman from Toronto who cottages at Eagle Lake. In September 2022, he went into sudden cardiac arrest for four minutes and was helped by nurses and doctors to recover. Muir remembers hearing the beeping sound of the heart rate monitoring machine and hearing nurses screaming, “we’re losing him.” The businessman described the procedure he had as “life-changing, excellent care.”

Muir is matching donations to express thanks.

Breast cancer survivors

Tammy Rea details how she got a letter during COVID-19 saying she was due for a mammogram, and how she’d normally be the kind of person to just put something like that aside, but for some reason, made a call, and was scheduled in promptly.

“Eventually, it turned out that I had stage-zero breast cancer, which is amazing, because even when my surgeon knew where it was, she still couldn’t feel it. Nothing else would have found that. But the mammogram picked it up. So, the mammogram meant, and only the mammogram meant, that I was diagnosed at stage zero.”

On the importance of getting a mammography unit at the Haliburton hospital, Rea said, “I have the gut feeling my friends in the city get a better shot at fighting breast cancer because they’re diagnosed earlier. I think if we have the machine here, the machine is so modern and new, it takes less time and is less painful.”

Rea also participated in a 15-km swimming challenge with the Canadian Cancer Society to raise funds for mammography services.

Darlene Armstrong, who was diagnosed with breast cancer six years ago, at the age of 45, was shocked at her diagnosis. “I had a healthy and very active lifestyle, so it was very surprising for me to discover a lump.”

Armstrong added, “when I heard we were getting a mammography unit here, I was excited, because I had to travel, as does everybody else in this community. I traveled to Peterborough, and so the fact people won’t have to travel is huge. I’m incredibly fortunate I have the means to travel. I have a vehicle, but lots of people in our County don’t, and it’s just going to be so beneficial to people in our community.

The Radiothon will be broadcasting from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is hosted by Rick Lowes. The number to call is 705-457-1580.

Eighteen months after relocating from England to practice family medicine in Kinmount, Dr. Lesslie Ponraja said he still pinches himself daily to make sure he isn’t living a dream.

The doctor arrived in cottage country in February 2023 after months of conferring with volunteers from the Kinmount and District Health Centre. He made initial contact with the group during the pandemic, wanting to escape the busy hustle and bustle of city life for something more calming and serene.

It only took one visit for Ponraja to realize a move to Ontario’s Highlands was exactly what the doctor ordered.

“I love it here – having spent 20-odd years in England working in big towns I needed a change. I have always wanted something different, to take a step back and live a more balanced life. Being in Kinmount allows me to do that,” Ponraja said.

Rather than working lengthy shifts six days’ per week, Ponraja has a steady schedule at his Kinmount office, open regular business hours four days a week. It’s still busy – Ponraja is the only doctor at the clinic. He assumed all of Dr. Elena Mihu’s patients when she retired last August, estimating he has close to 2,000 people on his rota.

He said the clinic is actively recruiting, with several leads on physicians currently working overseas. Having been through the immigration process recently, Ponraja said he’s able to assist any potential doctor with their move.

Ponraja recently earned his supervisor status from the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, enabling him to bring students working on their degrees to Kinmount. He guided two students this summer – one from Queen’s and the other from the University of Ottawa.

“It’s showing them what it means to be a family physician – the things we look for, procedures we do. Any junior doctor who wants to come and spend time learning, we can offer that here now,” Ponraja said, hoping that could be a gateway for Ontario-trained physicians to move north.

Discussing his practice, Ponraja said he’s proud to have brought several new services to Kinmount recently. With a specialty in orthopedics, Ponraja has been able to assist patients experiencing issues with their bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves.

He launched new joint injection and minor procedure clinics last summer and has started to do biopsies for skin cancers this year.

“I’m able to do cortisone shots for people with arthritis, when before they had to go to Lindsay or Peterborough. The stuff I do investigating lumps and bumps has been popular too. It’s eased a lot of pressure on our hospitals because now people come to see me instead,” Ponraja said. “Patients seem to be happy – I’ve brought in services that have helped bridge gaps in healthcare.”

Ponraja said he plans to introduce more services when the clinic secures other physicians.

When away from the practice, Ponraja said he enjoys spending time outdoors and on the water. His favourite hobbies include kayaking and fishing.

“I like the relaxed lifestyle. It’s so calm and peaceful. If there’s a doctor who really wants to have a balanced lifestyle, this is the perfect place. Not everybody is made for the city. I did that for 20 years and it doesn’t really attract me anymore. I want to be closer to nature, closer to people,” Ponraja said. “There’s a life out there not many doctors have the opportunity to see.

“We all go through different phases in our life and careers – I think I’m in the best phase now. I know I made the right choice coming here. Kinmount is home,” he added.