By James Matthews

Incentives offered to lure medical professionals to Haliburton County are quite generous compared to what’s offered by other centres.
Warden Liz Danielsen, the mayor of Algonquin Highlands, asked for council’s thoughts in June as to whether or not the county should offer physicians a monetary signing bonus.
There’s serious competition for doctors and it was thought that such an incentive might be a good idea.
Wendy Welch, the county’s physician recruitment coordinator, told council when it met July 24 that officials looked into incentives offered by other municipalities and regions to attract doctors.
She said staff research didn’t turn up any municipality that offers a signing bonus to prospective doctors.
“We did not discover any communities that are paying an additional financial amount that’s released at the time of signing a return of service agreement,” Welch said. “So nothing that’s over and above their annual or bulk payment.”
She recommended that the county refrain from offering additional money to doctors. What she suggested the county do is shore up community support by way of “community care packages” involving more partners within the region.
“What Haliburton (County) already has in place is quite generous compared to the other communities,” she said. “And I don’t think adding an additional amount will make any difference.”
She said the county should prorate the offered incentives for physicians who offer to practice less than fulltime hours over a two-year commitment.
“That would be if someone came in and offered to work part-time or three-quarter time, let’s say,” she said.
Another idea broached in June as a possible avenue to address the region’s physician needs was to open the recruitment effort to nurse practitioners.
Danielsen said that nurse practitioners are taking on a much stronger healthcare role across the country.
Welch said there are federal and provincial incentive programs for nurse practitioners. Local officials discovered one community that offers its own additional incentive that’s been successful in attracting two nurse practitioners.
Locally, the medical centre and the hospital are “in flux right now,” Welch said. “Reevaluating their needs, waiting for funding to come into play for nurse practitioners.”
Haliburton Highlands Health Services recently posted a temporary fulltime nurse practitioner position, she said. The clinic is also open to hiring more.
She suggested the county get behind promoting the federal and provincial incentive programs as a means to meet local need.
Councillor Bob Carter, the mayor of Minden Hills, said that, based on conversations he’s had with doctors who have arrived in recent months, monetary incentives aren’t inhibiting healthcare professionals from coming to the area.
“That’s not the issue,” he said. “We already are higher than most of the other areas. That’s, I think, the best we can do.”
Carter said he’s against the county creating its own program to recruit nurse practitioners until there’s a clearer view of what needs to be done.
“I know that the (Kawartha North) Family Health Team has struggled with the whole working with the government, figuring out how nurse practitioners can be integrated into the practice,” he said, and added that the province has been dragging its feet in that regard.
In Haliburton County, if a doctor enters into an agreement for three years, the total amount of funding allocation of $75,000 could be paid out in different amounts as opposed to the current structure of $25,000 per year.
With the change, the county could pay out $50,000 in Year One, no funding in Year Two and $25,000 in Year Three.
“I do like the fact that we have added more flexibility to what we’re offering to physicians,” Danielsen said. “I also believe it would be beneficial to us to implement a program and for us to direct (Welch) to come back with something more definitive for nurse practitioners.”