It will be "years" before doctor shortage is over -NBRHC chief of medical staff (2024)

The panic that sets in locally when a doctor retires or shuts down their practice is palpable. A trip on social media sees dozens of people posting looking for assistance to get a family doctor.

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Doctor Scott Kerrigan is the chief of staff at the North Bay Regional Health Centre and won’t sugarcoat the shortage of family physicians in the community.

Kerrigan takes it a step or two further.

“There is a shortage of all kinds of physicians in the area,” says Kerrigan who adds the problem is not restricted to North Bay. “It is not just in the area; it is a national issue. In Ontario alone, there 2.2 or 2.3 million people without a primary care provider.”

Kerrigan says the current situation is the worst he has seen in his career. “It is getting worse over time.”

How did this happen?

“I think it has been years in development from not training enough physicians. Likely that was done due to cost to provide this education to people,” says Kerrigan.

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“Previous governments have made choices (to cut back).”

Kerrigan says the needle is moving in a different direction, a much-needed move.

“The current government has made the decision to increase (medical) school spots. It has created new medical schools. Increased the number of seats at medical schools.”

The chief of staff at the NBRHC says it took years to get into this situation, and it’s going to take many years to get out of the shortage.

“The problem is that it takes four years of medical school, at least two years of family medicine training, and you add another five years for certain specialties,” says Kerrigan.

Dial the clock back 30 years, and Kerrigan says that is when medical spots were being cut back.

“When I started medical school in 1994, they started cutting back. They (the government at the time) felt that there were too many doctors being trained,” says Kerrigan, calling that move, “short sighted.”

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The problem remains when it comes to getting doctors to first come to northern Ontario, then getting them to stay here.

Issues include doctor’s partners finding work if they relocate, making prospective doctors realize that North Bay isn’t that far off, and having a modern hospital to work in. Having a northern Ontario medical school has been a big help, says Kerrigan.

“We have had some success recruiting from there because we get students, and we get residents. You first are a med student, you graduate, then you become a resident, so they can apprentice, a doctor in training. This has been very helpful; we have been able to recruit many of those. They come here, see what it is like, some are from North Bay, some are not. They spend time here, have a good experience, and they think this is a place (where) they want to work.”

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Kerrigan says there are some doctors trained internationally who have been training at the NBRHC, and he hopes that some of them may set up shop in North Bay.

One way that northern Ontario hospitals recruit physicians is to, frankly, offer them financial incentives to come here.

“We partner with the city of North Bay for recruitment of all physicians. The city makes a financial contribution as an incentive to get people to locate here,” says Kerrigan who says the plan to bring doctors to North Bay has expanded its scope.

“Up until this past year, it was focused on family doctors, but I have been able to work with the mayor (Peter Chirico) to have the city expand it and to all physicians. We need surgeons, internists, ER (emergency room) physicians — we need the whole gambit of people,” says Kerrigan. “The city has increased its financial commitment in regard to recruitment.”

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(Dr Taylor Lougheed -SUPPLIED)

Kerrigan says the pressures of the pandemic caused some doctors to leave the field due to the heightened pressure. The pandemic also had a large impact on the health of many Canadians.

“People are sicker now as the normal health care practices fell off during Covid. People are behind in things like cancer screenings and routine health checks. This means doctors are trying to catch-up with treatments. We have a population which is growing at a record pace. We added a million people last year with no real plan to care for them,” says Kerrigan.

It’s a perfect storm of increased stress on the health care system.

“People are getting older, sicker, and there are more of them. We are not training enough doctors, and the ones we trained 30 years ago are retiring.”

The Nugget will have the second part of the interview with Dr. Kerrigan next week.

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