Northern doctors call on governments to address shortage of physicians and specialists

The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) has launched its 'Life Without a Doctor' campaign, in time for the provincial election June 2.

The group is calling on all political parties to take steps to ensure more people can access a family doctor in their communities.

Officials with the OCFP said Statistics Canada reports 1.3 million Ontarians don't have a family doctor.

“Part of what we’ve seen is an increase in burnout among family physicians," said Dr. Sarah Newbury, a family physician in Marathon and a spokesperson for the OCFP.

"We’re seeing family physicians change career track, we’re seeing some early retirements. In fact, one in five currently anticipates retiring within the next few years."

Newbury said there's been an increasing burden on family physicians in terms of paperwork. She said that about 25 per cent of a physician's time is spent taking care of administrative tasks, consuming time that could be spent with patients.

“Our health care system remains quite reliant on fax machines," she said.

"There’s a lot of things that we spend time faxing and when the fax doesn’t go through, we’re waiting ... and then we have to fax again and get things started again. That’s a simple example."

The OCFP said the situation in northern Ontario is "especially dire," with 100 doctors and 130 specialists needed.

“I think the challenge right now is recruiting people to family medicine in general and then having them stay here and actually open a practice and then maintain that practice," said Dr. Lesley Griffiths, a family physician in Timmins.

Griffiths said at least 20 to 30 doctors will be needed in the next five years and is asking the City of Timmins to help.

“We need a concerted effort from the city to develop and maintain a position for a physician recruiter who can go out and make the contacts in the community," Griffiths said.

"Not only the physicians, but also for their partners and their families moving forward. In the past, a lot of this has been done by the hospital but I think it’s too much for the hospital alone to take on and we really do need investment from the city.”

Griffiths said she is part of a group of local physicians and community partners putting together a business plan on doctor recruitment and retention. She said they want to present it to the city within the next few months.