Rural health care funding requested for Innisfil
By Chris Simon

Innisfil needs to continue receiving provincial rural health care funding to adequately recruit doctors, says town councillor Lynn Dollin.

Thus, the town and other catchment areas should be considered, when the province reviews its health care criteria for under serviced municipalities soon. Dollin made the statement during a recent council meeting.

Minutes later, council passed a plan to ask Health and Long Term Care Minister George Smitherman to consider providing more funding to the area.

"(Smitherman) spoke about how the under serviced (health care funding) program was a rural program," she said, referring to a speech Smitherman made during a recent Rural Ontario Municipal Association Conference. "He was not happy how over the years it had been eroded and now used by large cities as well."

Dollin says several of Innisfil's catchment areas would not qualify as a rural under Smitherman's plan.

"That distinction has huge financial benefits for visiting physicians," she said.

"When they come in, their accommodation is paid for. Sometimes, their travel is paid for, or they're given cash to pay off student loans. If we didn't have this incentive, chances are, any physicians looking to go somewhere would go to a more rural community that would be able to supply these things the government is giving them."

However, the funding is necessary for the Innisfil area, said Dollin.

"Maybe Kingston and Toronto and larger centres shouldn't have the ability to access this money, but people like us, who are part rural and urban, should still be able to access these funds," she said.

"We rely heavily on these funds to attract physicians, and we certainly are under serviced."