WELLINGTON COUNTY – The Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team is seeking funding to assist in a new physician recruitment program.
According to a report presented at a recent county committee meeting, the local health organization is looking for sustainable funding in the form of an annual $130,000 investment.
The funding would be split equally between Wellington County, Guelph, and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce to initiate the recruitment program.
The organization says due to retirements and movement out of the community, there are a number of vacant physician positions in the communities leaving a significant number of residents without primary care.
“This places a significant burden on the existing physicians to continue to support all aspects of care. The problem will be further exacerbated in 2024 by an additional retirement.”
According to the report, there is a family physician shortage in Ontario and its estimated that between 1.8 and 2.2 million Ontarians are living without a family doctor.
Currently in Guelph-Wellington there are 166 family physicians providing care, and the organization says with 18,000 units anticipated in Guelph over the next nine years, 35 additional primary care physicians are needed to support the primary care needs.
It’s also anticipated that 25 additional primary care physicians will be needed in Wellington County.
The County’s CAO Scott Wilson says $50,000 has been provisionally placed in the budget for 2024 to support the request.
The report will go before a County Council meeting for approval on Thursday.
You can read the full report here.
