City of Greater Sudbury officials were understandably enthused Monday to herald the arrival of five new family physicians to the community.
With at least 30,000 residents without a family doctor these days, there is a shortage of about two-dozen physicians in the city. So the five recruits unveiled Monday represent “a significant development,” Mayor John Rodriguez said.
“We have signed five medical residents who have committed to practice family medicine in Greater Sudbury once their training is complete,” Rodriguez told a news conference at city hall.
The five recruits still must complete residency training before they can open full-fledged family practices in the city.
Two of the residents will begin their practices by January of next year, two others will be ready by September 2010 and the other will complete her training in December 2010.
The residents were recruited with the help of a municipally funded incentive program implemented by city council Jan. 1. Council improved its incentive program to better compete with other communities offering all manner of enticements to physicians-in-training.
The city program’s components include a “return of service” agreement that provides $40,000 over four years to a new doctor in exchange for a commitment to practice in the community for those four years.
There also is a $5,000 payment for a physician who accepts hospital privileges.
The city’s program also provides non-financial assistance, such as help in finding housing for new doctors and students at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Assistance also is provided in employment searches for the spouses and partners of physicians moving to the city.
“This program plays an important role toward ensuring that Greater Sudbury continues to be a health-care leader within the region and our citizens continue to have access to quality health care,” Rodriguez said.
“My family’s here, it’s home and it’s where I’ve always wanted to come back to,” said Gasparini, a graduate of the University of Ottawa’s medical school who plans to practise in her hometown after completing residency training in December 2010.
Her choice also was confirmed by clinical training experiences in the North, said Gasparini, who participated in a NOSM program known as Residents of the Canadian Shield, which provides placements in community-based family medicine throughout the North.
“I did my my residency in family medicine here in Sudbury and in Northern Ontario and I did additional training in emergency medicine. That (training in the North) definitely is what made me decide to stay here in Sudbury.”
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