A campaign to help attract more family doctors to Wallaceburg has exceeded its goal.
The fundraising drive was announced in October and launched the following month, hoping to raise $100,000 to bring three new physicians to the Wallaceburg Community Medical Centre on McNaughton Avenue.
Organizers now say just over $101,000 has been raised, which campaign chair Rob Watson says will go toward licensing, transportation, and other supports for physicians coming from outside the area, and potentially outside the country.
“The next step is communicating with medical students, residents, doctors on the move, other recruitment centres, to find out where the availability is and who has an interest. It’s not just about finding a doctor, we have to find the right doctor.”
Watson says physicians interested in working in a rural area with fewer resources than in larger centres can be hard to come by.
Officials at the Chatham-Kent Family Health Team estimate there are roughly 3000 people in need of a family doctor in Wallaceburg.