The Hanover and District Hospital has a new partnership that it hopes will bolster its already strong doctor recruitment efforts.
The hospital has an agreement with Queen’s University that will see third-year medical students placed in Hanover for their clerkship year.
Mark Rogan, Chair of Physician Recruitment, says they've already had great results with their Rural Residency Program, and the clerkship will allow earlier med students a chance to experience the Hanover hospital.
"We just started it, they come in blocks for two to three months," he said. "They work in a rural community seeing what rural medicine is like. It's like a recruitment tool, because it would be too difficult to explain what its like to practice rural medicine. Having a clerkship and working in a rural hospital with hands-on experience gives them an idea of what they've got ahead."
This is just one of the latest ways the independent hospital is working to get more doctors to the area.
While the hospital has brought in 18 physicians since the HDH Foundation began facilitating the process, Rogan noted the need continues to grow as the community does and nearby hospitals scale back emergency hours.
"We have a phenomenal group of doctors and a very young group of doctors, I think maybe our oldest in their 50s," he said. "They travel down from their into their 30s and we're fairly evenly weighted in male and female."
Nearly a decade ago, the HDH Foundation purchased a home that it uses to house those coming to the region for the residency program.
Rogan said it helped tackle a big challenge of finding housing for new residents annually, but also helped them integrate into the community.
"It's fairly unique, I think that in a small rural community you have to find ways to be unique and set yourself above some of the rest because it's very competitive," he said.
While the housing has been a boon, Rogan says all the staff at the hospital that go above and beyond, lending time in their busy schedules to mentor the younger generations, is what has really helped recruitment efforts.
"We have a good group and that's the thing... That's why I say we've been so successful with our residency program, people recognize how committed our doctors are and how dedicated they are," he said.
That dedication extends to the Town of Hanover too, which has put more money towards doctor recruitment this year, because the collaborative effort is yielding strong results.
The town announced an additional $90,000 has been put into the recruitment program this year.
"You can't do it by yourself, it's always joint effort. The Town of Hanover has always supported the hospital, they see the healthcare of the community as a real priority. Same with our clinic, our doctors are very involved in the recruitment process and same with the hospital, with Dana (Howes, President and CEO) and her team as well," he said.
Rogan hopes there's more in the community ready to step up and help out, as he's planning on next year to be his last as Chair of the Recruitment Committee.