There's good news for people in the Barrie area who need a family doctor or have waited a long time to see a specialist.
Recruiters have had success recruiting more than two dozen new doctors to the area.
Dr. Christa Cozanczyn has just started practising family medicine. At three months on the job, the new physician has been busy filling in for doctors at medical clinics and working at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
“When I said I would be able to start doing locum physicians there was a huge need and request because traditionally there haven't been enough doctors and it’s difficult for family physicians to get time off or scale back their practise,” Cozanczyn says.
In fact there is a huge shortage of doctors in the Barrie area. According to the local physician recruitment task force, 50,000 people don't have a family doctor.
Dave Coward co-chairs the recruitment task force.
“There is generally a shortage of family physicians outside of urban areas,” he says, adding major strides have been made in recruiting doctors to the area. In the last year, 10 family physicians and 21 specialists have chosen the Barrie area for their practise.
“The family physicians we've attracted this year have taken over practises of doctors who are retiring,” Coward says, “As well, 8,000 people will see a new practise opportunity.”
A big reason for the success is RVH has partnered with the University of Toronto to be a teaching hospital for future family doctors. The program has graduated 19 doctors since it started in 2009 and 13 have decided to stay in Barrie.
“Physicians have been known to stay where they train so they get to know the community, make connections in the medical community and that makes their entrance into practise much easier,” Coward says.
Cozanczyn graduated from the residency program at RVH and that was a big factor in the Orangeville native’s decision to practice in Barrie.
“It allowed us to see what family medicine is in Barrie, work with the many physicians and specialists we would be referring patients to and that really gives you genuine comfort in knowing the people you would be working with,” she says.
With tens of thousands of people still needing a family doctor, the task force says more work must be done. There are plans to expand the teaching program at RVH to allow for more graduates and to hold a job fair in Barrie.
