Extension of Temporary Locum Program gives northern Ontario hospitals some relief

The Manitoulin Health Centre in Mindemoya, Ont., will need to close its emergency department for at least 10 days in October if it can't find more physicians to fill in.

Dr. Maurianne Reade, a rural family physician in Mindemoya and the centre's president of the professional staff, said the doctors at the centre are overworked, and unable to cover some upcoming shifts.

"We physically can't keep working the way we have been over the last many months," Reade said.

Like many small rural hospitals in northern Ontario, the Manitoulin Health Centre relies on locums – doctors from urban centres who travel to smaller communities to provide some relief – to fill staffing gaps.

The province's Temporary Locum Program, established during the COVID-19 pandemic, was due to expire on Sept. 30.

But in a memo on Monday, Ontario's deputy health minister said it will be extended until March 31, 2024.

"We're certainly hoping to be able to fill those gaps with outside help and the renewal of the Temporary Locum Program [...] has certainly given us some additional hope in that regard," Reade said.

But even if the Manitoulin Centre can attract locums from places like Toronto and Ottawa, Reade said it's only a temporary reprieve.

The long-term solution is to attract more doctors who would live and work in the community full-time.

"If people can pick up a shift somewhere else and work half as hard and yet be compensated in the same way, it really makes it hard for anyone to choose to come to our community in Mindemoya," Reade said.

Tim Vine, the president and CEO of the North Shore Health Network, which runs three small northern Ontario hospitals in Thessalon, Blind River and Richard's Landing, said it's difficult to plan around a temporary program.

"We are still reliant for the vast majority of the emergency department shifts on those locums, those traveling doctors that will come from other communities to support our services," Vine said.

Before the announcement that the Temporary Locum Program would be extended, Vine said the network's Thessalon site didn't have any shifts booked after Sept. 30.

"We would have absolutely been looking at closures at the Thessalon site and possibly looking at closures at the Richard's Landing in Blind River sites as well, as we would have found it very difficult to recruit locums," he said.

Vine said he's already thinking about what happens after March 31, when the renewed program is due to expire.

And planning for the possibility is time he and other managers could be spending on other things, he added.

"I think that the ministry should come up with a permanent solution to address these unintended consequences of what was really a very much needed program," Vine said.

 "But it should be rolled into a more comprehensive approach to position compensation."