The Chatham-Kent Family Physician Recruitment and Retention Task Force has received $100,000 annually from Chatham-Kent to lure family doctors to the municipality for the last three years.
During the upcoming budget deliberations the task force plans on asking the municipality for money once again to help fund their efforts in 2023.
The task force recruited six family physicians to the area in 2022.
However, the Chatham-Kent Ontario Health Team figures show that close to 21,000 area residents are without a primary care provider, which would require an additional 14 primary care physicians.
In addition, it’s estimated that there are 19 family physicians in Chatham-Kent who are close to or nearing the average age of retirement.
