Kingston adds 8 more doctors as part of physician recruitment program

The City of Kingston announced the appointment of 8 new physicians to the city on Thursday, bringing the total number recruited through the Family Physicians Recruitment Incentive Program to 17 since being launched in 2022.

A release from the City of Kingston says that the recruitment efforts have helped to ease the backlog of unrostered patients, and has helped Kingston to be one of very few communities in Ontario seeing a decrease in the Healthcare Connect waitlist that is expected to continue to drop as other initiatives take shape in the city later in the year.

The city has so far committed $3 million to those recruitment and retention efforts, and Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said in the city’s release that it’s been a necessary investment given the need in the community.

“Kingston has invested $3 million in its physician recruitment project, understanding that primary care is vital to community wellbeing and economic development,” said Paterson.

“By collaborating with local and regional partners, we’ve set a new standard in primary care delivery and recently launched an innovative grant program for primary care clinics that’s the first of its kind in Ontario.” 

Craig Desjardins, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships said the recruiting of doctors has helped an additional 15,300 people in Kingston become rostered by a family doctor so far.

The physician recruitment program provides a $100,000 incentive to eligible family doctors and also provides those doctors with relocation assistance for them and their families.

Desjardins says recruitment efforts have been fairly successful over the first year and a half of the program, and it’s been due to a collaborative effort that it’s been so impactful, and doctors and clinics that are already in the community have provided a boost to those efforts.

“I can’t say enough about the incredible family doctors in our community, the existing ones who are incredible sounding boards, advisors, word of mouth, salespeople,” Desjardins said.

“When we bring in a prospective doctor or doctors, and we’ve been bringing them in almost in cohorts, as much as they want to speak to me and understand what’s going on in Kingston in terms of lifestyle, what they’re really interested in is what is their life going to be like as a doctor.”

Desjardins added that the city’s strong relationship with Queen’s Family Medicine has also made a difference in these efforts.

This year, Kingston also introduced the primary care clinic grant which provides up to $100,000 for clinics to essentially streamline administrative and operational tasks so that the doctors themselves can actually dedicate more of their time to patients, thereby having more time to accept additional patients.

Desjardins said the city received seven applications to tap into that program which are currently being vetted and scored.

The city’s initial commitment to the Physician Recruitment Program was $2 million, but topped it up with an additional $1 million earlier this year.

Even still, as the city’s efforts begin to pay dividends, the available pool of money continues to shrink.

With 17 doctors recruited and as many as seven clinics accessing the city’s new grant, the allotted $3 million is nearing its end.

Desjardins says city staff are closely monitoring other municipalities for best practices, and hope to find other ways that may not be monetary to convince more healthcare professionals to move to the region.

While things like a relocation specialist are perks that don’t represent a monetary commitment, there may need to be new ideas in the future to boost the number of doctors.

However there will also be a bit of a wait and see approach with other projects on the horizon, as Kingston will consider next steps after seeing their impact.

“We’re always looking at best practices… because, frankly, this problem isn’t just a Kingston or Ontario problem,” Desjardins said.

“One of the things we’re looking at figuring out is the province approved $4.1 million for the Periwinkle Clinic…  We’re trying to understand how that will address the unrostered patients,” Desjardins said.

“They’re talking about 8,000 to 10,000 patients… so we’re really trying to understand how that sort of investment by the province is going to shake out and how that actually might address all those people that don’t have a family doctor.”

In March when some roster spots opened up at a local Kingston clinic, roughly 30,000 Kingston residents were seeking a family doctor.