More money needed to recruit doctors to London, task force head tells councillors
140,000 in Ontario city without family doctor; 6 physicians hired in Middlesex-London in 2024
London lags behind other municipalities in recruiting family doctors and needs to increase funding for a task force working to combat a physician shortage in the southwestern Ontario city, where thousands remain without primary care, the group's head told a council committee on Monday.
The Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team (MLOHT) has hired six doctors to clinics over the last year but needs $80,000 this year to continue its primary care recruitment program, aimed at attracting more doctors to the region, said recruitment lead Andrea Loewen.
"The money is used for the salary for this [MLOHT] role, plus travel and hosting events for doctors and residents, which is really important for building relationships and helping them," Loewen told city hall's community and protective services committee.
"This is what the city needs right now. We need this role to continue and we need to continue to get at the provincial level."
About 118 doctors are needed to meet the needs of some 140,000 residents in London-Middlesex who don't have a family doctor. Demand is especially high in south and east London, Loewen added.
Loewen asked the city for $80,000 over three years, but council ultimately agreed to pay $50,000 for the program's first year. London Health Sciences Centre covered the remaining $30,000, but Loewen said the hospital network is unable to provide that additional amount this year.
Other funding partners include London Economic Development Corporation, St. Joseph's Health Care and Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
Last October, the Ontario government appointed former Liberal health minister Dr. Jane Philpott to lead a primary care team with a mandate to connect all Ontarians with primary care providers.
On Jan. 27, the province announced $1.4 billion in new funding, on top of $400 million in previously approved money, to provide two million more people with a family doctor over four years.
'Slippery slope into backfilling health care'
Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis said the funding request "will absolutely be a no" for him at council because funding for health-care initiatives is the provincial government's responsibility.
"At the end of the day, this is a slippery slope into backfilling health care," said Lewis, adding he believes this will eventually bankrupt property taxpayers.
But Coun. Sam Trosow said putting $80,000 from a reserve account toward the MLOHT program will be money well spent.
"Londoners need this. We need family doctors and I understand the argument because I think the province has really dropped the ball on this but we need to do this," said Trosow.
Other councillors said while they agree the funding should come from the province, they will support it due to the dire need.
Regions such as Niagara have offered doctors incentives, such as a $100,000 relocation allowance, leading to 28 hired in 2024 — almost five times more than what London recruited, Loewen said.
Although Mayor Josh Morgan said he supports funding the program, he pushed back on the idea of financial incentives, arguing they're out of municipal jurisdictions and pit cities against each other.
"I will never get behind throwing municipal property taxpayer dollars into incentive programs that should frankly be illegal by the province of Ontario," said Morgan.
"It is totally a race to the bottom with property tax dollars that were never meant to be spent on incentives for family doctors. We all need family doctors. All the communities do. It is a problem for the province to solve."
Council will make the final call at its next meeting on April 1.
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