Five new doctors coming to region
By Chris Simon

Photo by Chris Simon Barrie Area Physician Recruitment Task Force member Stu Murdoch, left, speaks to a crowd of dignitaries and reporters last week. The task force announced five new doctors have been recruited to practice in Barrie. Three of the doctors attended the announcement, including Christopher Lalik, Laura Chan and Edward Lee.

There are five new doctors coming to Barrie, something that can only positively impact Innisfil, says deputy mayor Gord Wauchope.

The Barrie Area Physician Recruitment Task Force has successfully recruited five new family doctors to the city. That announcement was made during a press conference at the Barrie City Hall Rotunda last week.

All five doctors - Christopher Lalik, Robert Gabor, Edward Lee, Laura Chan and Kian Khatami - will be opening practices and accepting new patients.

"This is a fantastic day," said Royal VIctoria Hospital vice president and task force co-chair Garth Matheson. "When you are sick, we want to deal with you very quickly, and we want to get you healthy.

"That creates a situation where we need primary care physicians right at the community level. We need that right now; we still have that imbalance between the demand for service and the supply."

While none of the doctors will practice in Innisfil, the announcement means many town residents who are currently without a family physician may finally be able to get one, said Wauchope, who is also Innisfil's representative on the task force.

"This will mean a lot to Innisfil residents," he said. "There's five doctors now that are going to be located in the Barrie area, but those are five doctors Innisfil residents can phone up and get appointments with. It's great news, not only for the town but the whole surrounding area of Barrie, Oro-Medonte, Springwater and Essa."

The new doctors will also allow many residents who currently travel to the Greater Toronto Area to see family physicians to get a doctor closer to town, said Wauchope.

"It alleviates a lot of driving further south," he said. "It's only going to get better."

Since 2001, the task force has attracted 143 new physicians - 90 specialists and 53 family doctors - to the area.

However, the area is still short on family doctors, according to task force member Stu Murdoch.

"(These five) have been heavily recruited from other municipalities, parts of the province and countries over the last several months," he said. "They've chosen to come here and set up a practice."

He says the area still needs about 20 family doctors and 24 specialists. There are currently about 70 family physicians caring for about 120,000 patients in the area.

The doctors are overworked, with many taking on about 400 patients more than the provincial average.

"We're dedicated to recruiting physicians; the impact these physicians will have on our community will be phenomenal," said Murdoch. "This will reduce clinic walk-in times, and above all, residents will be able to find a physician to manage their overall primary care needs, which is a desperate thing in our community right now. This is great news, but we must continue to maintain our efforts."

There are several reasons for the current doctor shortage. Among them, many doctors are nearing retirement age, says Murdoch.

"We have to focus on long-term strategies that both residents and the medical community can be a part of," he said.

Anyone who wants access to one of the new family doctors can complete a questionnaire on the task force's website, at www.barriedoctors.ca.