City’s Family Physician Recruitment Program delivers results in addressing doctor shortage

By Christena Lawrie, CFRC's Broadcast Journalist and Local Journalism Initiative Reporter.

At their last meeting, Council received a mid-year update on the Family Physician Recruitment Program and unanimously approved an additional $400,000 in funding to keep it going.

Since the program launched in 2022, 33 new family doctors have been recruited, and according to this latest update, Kingston is nearing its goal of rostering all unattached patients.

“I think this is one of those health indicators for a city, and when a city can hit a home run like this and actually provide the number of doctors needed for its patients, it works out really well,” said Councillor Don Amos.

The next phase of the program will focus on recruiting replacements for retiring physicians, ensuring continuity of care as nearly 30 per cent of local doctors approach retirement age.

Registering with Health Care Connect remains the best way for unattached patients to be matched with a provider.

Listen to the ful story here.