The Chatham-Kent Budget Committee has approved $100,000 towards bringing new doctors to the municipality, but the plan on how to execute it is still unclear.
According to the municipal council, there are currently no doctors taking new patients in CK and that was a major concern.
By a unanimous vote, the $100,000 was passed on the second day of budget deliberations at the Civic Centre in Chatham Thursday night. The money will be pulled from strategic reserves, so it's not expected to have any impact on the 2019 municipal tax rate.
While the motion did eventually pass without opposition, there were initially some concerns from councillors about an actual action plan for the money, since the motion for the funding included an amendment which allows council to make a decision at a later date as to how the funds will be used.
"I am just kind of at a loss as to what the money is for," Councillor Michael Bondy said. "So there is going to be a report to council telling us what the money is going to be spent on but we don't know what that is today. So we are going to approve the money but still not know what it is for?... It's all a good idea and I support it 100 per cent but I just don't know what we are spending money on."
According to the committee, in previous years when money was allotted for the Primary Care Practitioner and Retention Program, it went towards encouraging students in medical schools to come to Chatham-Kent after graduation. Council added the money was also spent bringing students and their families to the municipality to get familiarized with the community in hopes they would choose it as a place to call home.
Mayor Darrin Canniff hoped that approval of the funding could be used as leverage to get other organizations to throw their hats into the ring.
"There are other parties interested in bringing doctors here and if the program is going to cost $100,000, I would like to see some other parties sharing in on it like [the] LHIN and the hospital," Canniff said."We don't want to spend $100,000 and no one else spends anything."
Councillor Steve Pinsonneault, who represents East Kent, said it has worked in the past and thinks it would help rural areas out, especially because they seem to have a tougher time bringing in and keeping physicians.
According to Councillor Joe Faas, recruitment is a very serious issue across Chatham-Kent.
"The Chatham-Kent Family Health Team, which has a centre in each community, are short about 10 doctors compared to what they were," Faas said. "If we don't start doing something, we're going to be left out. We do our own recruitment in Dresden and we put dollars in on our own to try and recruit. We've been somewhat successful but not nearly enough."
While council made it clear there was a glaring need for doctors in the municipality, they promised the approval of this money will go a long way to correcting the situation.
