By Emily Stonehouse
It’s not every day a new doctor comes to town.
Actually, it’s fairly rare.
The province-wide doctor shortage is a problem that is not isolated to our neck of the woods. But staff at both the Haliburton Highlands Family Health Team as well as the County of Haliburton have been working diligently to attract new physicians to service the ever-growing roster of patients.
“Our group is trying very hard to recruit,” shared Kim Robinson, the executive director and office manager for the Haliburton Family Medical Centre. “It made a big difference when the county hired someone to focus specifically on recruiting. That was huge.”
But their efforts have been rewarded. Starting March 1, 2025, Dr. Sharysse Kayoumedjian will be joining the roster of physicians in Haliburton County. Kayoumedjian originally hails from Thornhill, and brings a wide variety of knowledge to the table. “She’s very focused on clinics and women’s health,” said Robinson, “she’s got some very unique experiences.”
Dr. Kayoumedjian will be providing primary care services to the community for the next two years, and will be taking over the population of patients who were once assigned to Dr. Tina Stephenson, who retired just over one year ago.
“We’ve managed to maintain those patients,” said Robinson, “but that’s been tricky for us, and very tricky for the patients. They’ve had a healthcare team instead of one doctor.”
Stephenson’s patient population was just above 1100, and Robinson noted that’s pretty standard with roster numbers up here. “Our maximum roster is 1300, with just under 10,000 patients in total with the clinic,” she shared.
There is a catchment area for patients who qualify for the services provided by the Haliburton Highlands Family Health Team, but as a rural area, those boundaries are quite large.
The patients are equally dispersed amongst eight full-time physicians, with Dr. Kayoumedjian now stepping into the ninth spot.
While this is one step forward for local medical care, Robinson noted that she and her colleagues are still actively working alongside the county physician recruiter, Wendy Welch, to continue to build their team.
“We are currently taking names off the waitlist from 2017,” she said. “Sometimes we recruit a new physician, just in time for another one to retire.”
But Robinson is optimistic about Dr. Kayoumedjian, and her role in the community. “We’re very excited,” she said. “Everyone who met her just loved her, and she will be such a great fit for our team.”
