Well fancy that
Will all the bashers who came out of the woodwork last year when the BurdReport questioned the need for a "Doctor's Retention Committee" please be still. Last night our esteemed MPP lou told hamilton Township that there is no shortage of doctors and he will not be lobbying his Preem for the area to be included in the "underserviced". Read about it here. A quote from NorthumberlandToday says it all "There are doctors right here in Cobourg looking for patients" and the Port Hope Community Health Centre is returning $300,000 in provincial money because it doesn't have enough patients to hire the third doctor it was funded for, he said.
On the other hand it does swing the issue politically from Ms Kim Rudd, the Chair of the Committee to Attract Doctors" and the nominated candidate for the Libs, to the Cons. Wonder what Kim will say now? But at least the Cobourg Council should be able to take the funding request from the pre-budget discussions and save the taxpayers money.
On the other hand it does swing the issue politically from Ms Kim Rudd, the Chair of the Committee to Attract Doctors" and the nominated candidate for the Libs, to the Cons. Wonder what Kim will say now? But at least the Cobourg Council should be able to take the funding request from the pre-budget discussions and save the taxpayers money.
6 comments:
I disagree with L'il Lou claiming that we do not have orphan patients in Northumberland County. We have plenty of them, mostly those disadvantaged by poverty, age and isolation, or a combination of the three.
But I also don't agree with these high priced recruitment committees and their bribery. That's not the way to bring in doctors who want to treat that particular population.
Time for a re-think on that one.
It has been reported to me that in the Emergency Dept. at Northumberland Hills Hospital there is a notice saying that two of the recent arrivals are looking for patients. Surely there must be a way to match them up with the 'disadvantaged' of Deb O's comments? Or maybe they are 'undesirable' patients because they would need too much attention?
Very perceptive Gail R. There are two problems matching the orphans up with doctors: access and doctors choices in selecting their patients.
We are looking at all of Northumberland County. Many of our rural poor have no access to transportation to get to care; no cars, no transit available, and no money for a taxi or even Community Care. Sometimes there's child care or elder care to arrange and pay for too. Even small distances can be huge obstacles sometimes.
Many doctors have applications for prospective patients, and they can choose who to treat and what illnesses to treat. People can be disadvantaged by many factors, mental and developmental health included, and their more complex needs are harder to fill for family physicians, who need to control their workload just like the rest of us.
Like most of our human services, there's no single easy answer. I just don't think buying off doctors to come here is the right way to go about it.
The so called doctor shortage is a scam created by the medical community to artificially keep medical school classes small. In turn they get money thrown at them and people are to afraid to complain about any existing inept doctors for fear they will get shut out by the rest.
I believe Kim Rudd has resigned from the said committee you refered to a few months ago in fact and subsequently no longer holds any official position on the committee.
Dave Hughes to my understaning is Kim Rudd's replacement as Chair.
Ben wrote "But at least the Cobourg Council should be able to take the funding request from the pre-budget discussions and save the taxpayers money."
It is my firm belief that the only ones who can save the taxpayers' money is the taxpayers themselves. We all know only too well that once the politicians have our money, the last thing they intend to do is "NOT SPEND IT!" One way or another, or another, or yet another, they WILL spend it. The only way to save taxpayer money is to not let them take it in the first place, period.
We would do well to insist that our Councillors do not view this as an opportunity to redirect this taxing potential in another direction, having suggested earlier that it was pretty much a done deal anyway.
It will be interesting to hear the Deputy Mayor's intentions.
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