SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - Coun. Greg Campbell was surprised to hear about a recent trip Summerside staff made to Toronto in an effort to recruit family doctors.
Campbell said he learned of the excursion during the first meeting of the new Summerside city council last month.
Some of the city’s economic development staff and local doctors attended the Family Medicine Forum in Toronto from Nov. 14-17 as part of an effort to recruit new family physicians to the area.
Campbell said the city has lots to spend its money on and said it doesn’t need to duplicate work already being done by the provincial government.
“There’s a whole department of the P.E.I government that that’s what they do… and there was nothing positive come out of that trip,” said Campbell. “They’re justifying it by, if you have the doctors, you’ll draw the people and draw the businesses, but that’s a pretty weak argument. I don’t see the relationship between the two.”
Coun. Brian McFeely, the new chair of the economic development committee, said he’s still getting up to speed on the details, but feels doctor recruitment should be a team effort.
McFeely said the money for the trip was already allocated in the approved department budget from last year.
“The proof will be in the pudding down the road,” he said.
McFeely said health care is one of the big questions people and businesses have when they’re considering moving to Summerside.
"It’s an easier sell when you’re trying to entice a new business here when they’re concerned about health care,” he said. “I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. They’re intertwined more than we think they are.”
-Coun. Brian McFeely
“It’s an easier sell when you’re trying to entice a new business here when they’re concerned about health care,” he said. “I don’t think they’re mutually exclusive. They’re intertwined more than we think they are.”
Provincial recruitment manger Rebecca Gill welcomed the collaboration with Summerside and the doctors, saying the province sent information and giveaway items with the delegation and briefed the potential recruiters on discussion points.
“As much as it’s about the job, it’s about where (doctors are) going to live and the type of community they’re going to be part of,” Gill said. “That really lends itself to the retention piece.”
The province will tour prospective doctors around to various practices so they can get a feel for the communities, said Gill. They will also offer financial bonuses in return for a commitment of three years of work on P.E.I. and will help with moving expenses.
“In recruitment we’re really happy to be working with communities and have those partnerships established,” she said. “We’re happy to see Summerside doing their work and we’re really excited about it because we all have a role to play in physician recruitment and retention.”
