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The Times Advocate, 2005-06-01, Page 1l�J JOHN DEERE (519)235-1115 www.hurontractor.com W HURON TRACTOR Exeter MORTGAGE INTELLIGENCE Cali 238.HOME Home Ownership Made Easy SunCoast.ca TIMES -ADVOCATE Exeter, Ontario, Canada Wednesday, June I, 2005 x.25 (includes GST) Dealing with the doctor shortage By Scott Nixon TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF EXETER — "The most important thing in your community is your health care." So says doctor recruiter Gwen Devereaux of the Huron Perth Hospitals. Devereaux was speaking at a public meeting in Exeter May 24 on the doctor shortage issue. Held by the South Huron Chamber of Commerce and South Huron Hospital, the meeting featured Devereaux, hospital CEO Debra Hunt and Dr. Eric Wong of Exeter. An audi- ence of about 80 attended. One of the themes to come out of the meeting was the fact the public needs to get involved in doctor recruitment, something echoed by South Huron Chamber of Commerce treasurer Fred Simmons, who said the public needs to know what's going on with the doctor shortage and needs to get involved. While South Huron has been officially deemed medically underserviced — along with the rest of Huron -Perth with the exception of St. Marys — Simmons said he doesn't think there's a medical crisis in the community and gave credit to the hospital board for its work. He said one way to prevent a crisis is to develop a long-term plan to deal with the issue. "Clearly the doctor shortage is not going to go away," Simmons said. "It is going to be with us for a very long time." Hunt, whose first day as CEO at South Huron was May 9, stressed that despite the family doctor shortage, there isn't a doctor shortage at South Huron Hospital — all shifts are covered and 24-hour service in the emergency department has been maintained since brief clo- sures to the ER in 1998. She said not only is doctor recruitment important, but so is retaining the doc- tors we have. Hunt outlined the efforts South Huron Hospital has made over the past few years to deal with the family doctor shortage, including attending recruiting fairs and setting up the Family Practice Clinic on Main Street in 2001, which led to the opening in 2004 of the South Huron Medical Centre across from the hospital. Hunt said the medical centre has proven to be well used and is a major doctor recruitment tool for the community as more medical students are looking to work in medical centres rather than starting their own practices. Hunt also noted the community was able to attract doctors Krista Fatum, Philip Chan and most recently Maureen Farrell. South Huron needs three more full- time family doctors to lose its underser- viced status. Devereaux said the competition among communities trying to recruit doctors is "getting scary." She pointed to Goderich as an example of a community that lost five doctors over a period of a few months, orphaning 4,800 patients, something the community is still dealing with. She echoed Hunt's remarks that doc- tor retention is paramount, explaining that existing doctors will help bring new doctors into a community. She said attracting doctors is more dif- ficult in a rural community than in urban centres. "We know we have a big job here," Devereaux said, explaining there is a shortage of 1,250 doctors across the province and 102 communities in south- ern Ontario are medically underser- viced, while the population continues to age. By 2021, 17.8 per cent of the popu- lation in Ontario will be over 65. Gwen Devereaux, left, a doctor recruiter South Huron Hospital CEO Debra Hunt last week at a public meeting on the doct for the Huron Perth Hospitals, and listen while Exeter Dr. Eric Wong speaks or shortage. (photo/Scott Nixon) And while the number of graduating doctors is increasing, fewer are becom- ing general practitioners. Also, speaking to the increase of female doctors, Devereaux said female doctors usually do less work than their male counter- parts and retire earlier, although she noted that was due to family responsi- bilities. Also, the younger generation of doc- tors has decided, "I'm going to have a life first," Devereaux said, which is one reason why doctors are increasingly looking to work in medical clinics. Devereaux outlined seven things a community needs to recruit doctors: • spousal employment and support; • a medical clinic; • a congenial group of doctors; • housing for locums (doctors who temporarily replace doctors on vacation or on leave), residents and medical stu- dents; • a well -organized clinic; • a strong recruitment team; • the flexibility to allow a doctor to practice his/her style of medicine. Dr. Wong, who has worked in Exeter for the past year, spoke on what new medical school grads are looking for. He said new grads want to work fewer hours than their predecessors and want a better balance between their personal and professional lives. He said having better rested doctors can improve the quality of health care. He admitted many doctors are "con - See DOCTOR page 2 Municipality of Bluewater faces bill for $100,000 By Pat Bolen TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF VARNA — The Municipality of Bluewater is facing a "ballpark" $100,000 cost to comply with the recom- mendations of a B. M Ross hydrogeological assessment for cleaning up around the Hensall landfill. Frank Vanderloo from B.M. Ross presented the rec- ommendations to council Monday night which includ- ed: • removing former waste near Dunn Drain; • a stormwater infiltration facility; • backfill an existing stormwater pond; • a new monitoring well; • an updated monitoring program Vanderloo said one of the problems with the first rec- ommendation was the potential cost. It is unknown how much garbage there was to be removed. Vanderloo said moving the waste to the Hensall land- fill could use up to a year of its potential capacity. Asked by Deputy Mayor Paul Klopp how much garbage was expected to be found, Vanderloo said six test holes have been drilled and two found waste. Vanderloo said once the waste materials are removed clay lined ditches would be constructed in order to con- vey runoff from the landfill. He added the key is be to tell the Ministry of Environment (MOE) when the municipality would be implementing the recommendations. "The MOE may push to be done this year," said Vanderloo. See BLUEWATER page 2 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 11/_• Sonnse GARDEN CENTRE RENOVATE YOUR FLOWSBEDS! IVY GERANIUMS 1 /2 PRICE BLOWOUT (WHILE QUANTITIES LAST) OPEN 9-8 MON.—FR/. • 9-6 SAT. & SUN. 227-1879 SURFINIA & WAVE PETUNIAS $1 LARGE SELECTION OF HANGING BASKETS, PATIO POTS & HOSTA Hwy. #4, minutes North of Lucan at Clandeboye (follow the signs) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •