Family Physician Recruitment & Retention in Chatham-Kent
Chatham-Kent recognizes the importance, the need and the challenges faced in recruiting and retaining Family Physicians to provide care for its residents. The Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team (CKOHT) collaborates with local partners in Chatham-Kent as part of the Family Physician Recruitment and Retention Task Force.
The goal of the Task Force is to evaluate need, and develop and implement strategies that will sustain an integrated approach to recruitment and retention of Family Physicians to service needs of the community.
Our goal is to review current family physician recruitment and retention initiatives, identifying strengths, opportunities and barriers to successful recruitment. We will develop and approve action plans for recruitment, and review successful initiatives elsewhere in Ontario. We will also educate the Task Force membership and their sponsoring organizations on the issues of family physician recruitment and retention in Ontario. As well, we will educate the community on the family physician resource shortage and the strategies of the Task Force. We will aim to identify sources and solicit resources to support the recruitment activities of the community and develop criteria for and monitor the use of these resources. We will monitor eligibility for Ministry of Health and Long Term Care programs and monitor opportunities through Health Force Ontario. We will communicate with existing family physician workforce to evaluate job satisfaction and challenges in order to retain family physicians in the community and develop partnerships for the community to provide unique recruitment and retention opportunities. We will also lobby for and provide input for appropriate funding sources dedicated for family physician recruitment and retention.
The Task Force was created January 6, 2020 as an independent community committee. The Task Force is made up of the following partners (one to two members of each – any additional members from an organization would need approval of the committee). Additional partners may be added in the future.
