The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) and physician recruiters are welcoming an announcement made by the federal government that the student loan forgiveness is increasing for rural doctors and nurses to attract more of them to smaller and under-served communities.
Employment and Workforce Development Minister Randy Boissonnault dropped the news on Tuesday, saying the increase is up to $60,000 in loan forgiveness for family physicians and family medicine residents and $30,000 for nurses and nurse practitioners working in under-served rural and remote communities.
CKHA's Director of Communications Fannie Vavoulis told CK News Today Chatham-Kent is a community that is eligible under this federal program and it's appreciated.
"Building and maintaining a family practice can be challenging, and we welcome the government’s response to support communities like Chatham-Kent. We’re hopeful that this will also encourage our young people to pursue a career in family medicine," Vavoulis said.
She noted CKHA collaborates with the local Family Health Teams and with the CK Family Physician Recruitment and Retention Task Force in their efforts to recruit family physicians to Chatham-Kent.
Vavoulis added this loan forgiveness program is one of the tools used to attract nurses to the area and hopes it will bear more fruit in the future.
"CKHA has been promoting this program to eligible newly hired nursing staff and prospective candidates for the last several years. It is very welcome news that the reimbursements have been increased, as it can only have a positive impact on nursing recruitment," said Vavoulis.
Co-Chair of the CK Family Physician Recruitment and Retention Task Force Sara Dalo, who is also Executive Director of the Tilbury Family Health Team, said the loan forgiveness increase is a good incentive to try to recruit rural physicians, but it doesn't guarantee recruitment to Chatham-Kent.
"Any measure to help with recruitment is encouraged," Dalo told CK News Today.
Physicians have long complained about administrative and clinical burden, along with other factors such as compensation and overhead making it difficult for new family doctors to start a new practice. Many choose substitute work or to work in a hospital because they have little to no support.
Minister Boissonnault said this loan forgiveness will attract close to 1,200 more doctors and 4,000 more nurses over the next decade.
The federal government estimates that approximately 3,000 doctors and nurses are expected to benefit in the first year of implementation, reaching up to 8,000 medical professionals per year by 2033.
The Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team told Council last year that nearly 21,000 residents are without a primary care provider and that alone would require an additional 14 doctors, adding that 19 family physicians in Chatham-Kent are also nearing the average age of retirement.
The end result is the municipality needs to hire at least 33 family physicians over the next several years.
