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180619 Physician Recruitment MIN= Attendance: Chair Dave Beres Mayor Stephen Molnar David Calder, CAO, Town of Tillsonburg Sandy Jansen, CEO, TDMH Dr. Jamie Cluett Dr. Brian Holowachuk Dr. Gerry Rowland Lana White, Executive Assistant/Deputy Clerk, Town of Tillsonburg Regrets: Councillor Penny Esseltine Dr. Howard Lamb Lance Scott Lesley Ross, Recruitment Coordinator, TDMH 1. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 1:15pm. 2. Adoption of Agenda Resolution Moved By: Dr. Rowland Seconded By: Mayor Molnar THAT the Agenda as prepared for the Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee meeting of March 20, 2018, be adopted. Carried 3. Disclosures of Pecuniary Interest and the General Nature Thereof Dr. Rowland declared an interest in regards to Agenda Item 5.1 (Dr. Johnson) Dr. Cluett and Dr. Holowachuk declared an interest in regards to Agenda Item 5.1 (Dr. Heeney) The Corporation of the Town of Tillsonburg PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT & RETENTION Tuesday, March 20, 2018 12:00 noon Council Chambers 200 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Tillsonburg, ON N4G 5A7 MINUTES Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee, Minutes – March 20, 2018 - 2 - 4. Adoption of Minutes of Previous Meetings – January 23, 2018 Resolution Moved By: S. Jansen Seconded By: Dr. Holowachuk THAT the Minutes of the Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee Meeting of January 23, 2018 be approved. Carried 5. General Business & Reports 5.1. Report CAO-18-01 – Physician Recruitment Incentive – Request for Reimbursement - Johnson and Heeney i) Correspondence from Tillsonburg Medical Clinic dated January 19, 2018 and February 9, 2018 (provided separately) ii) Tillsonburg Recruitment Agreement, with Dr. Johnson D.Calder and S.Jansen discussed housing as an incentive, and are supportive of the recommendation to add this to the incentive program. Assistance with housing will be for a maximum of 6 months. A dollar amount will be contained within the agreement. Resolution Moved By: Mayor Molnar Seconded By: Dr. Cluett THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee receive report CAO 18-01 Physician Recruitment Incentive - Request for Reimbursement; AND THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee supports reimbursement of $24,238.71 for August, 2017 to January 2018 to the new recruit (Johnson) for clinic overhead costs; AND THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee supports reimbursement of $829.42 to the new recruit for moving expenses; AND THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee supports reimbursement of $7350.00 to the new recruit to cover housing costs for six months. AND THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee supports reimbursement of $2990.00 to the Tillsonburg Medical Clinic to cover the costs to improve the physical plant to accommodate the new recruit; Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee, Minutes – March 20, 2018 - 3 - AND FURTHER THAT the attached Tillsonburg Recruitment Agreement form be signed by the CEO, CAO, the relevant medical clinic and the new recruit. Carried Resolution Moved By: Dr. Rowland Seconded By: Mayor Molnar THAT the Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee support reimbursement of $5,097.72 to the new recruit (Heeney) to cover housing costs for six months. Carried 5.2. Oxford County Physician Recruitment Update Dr. Rowland provided a verbal update, including changes to the website, expanding on- line and in-print advertising. If requests are received, they are passed on. The retirement program continues, and physicians planning to retire are encouraged to register. Any suggestions from Committee members are welcomed. 5.3. Hospital Clinic/Physical Plant for Future Recruits S.Jansen reported. It is recognized that there is limited space in current practices as well as in the hospital proper, for future recruits. The hospital owns the former dental building on the corner, across from the hospital. It’s a good location and could potentially be developed into physician offices. Discussion was held regarding making our successes public, emphasizing ‘joining’ not replacing current physicians. DIRECTION was given for a media release to be formulated by D.Calder, S.Jansen and L.Ross. Suggestion was for a quote from a couple of the members. The media release to be circulated in advance of release. Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee, Minutes – March 20, 2018 - 4 - 6. Other Business/Round Table Hospitalist – Explained as a physician, with their primary practice in the hospital. Can be a family doctor or an internist. Discussion was held. If there were individuals regularly covering in the hospital, perhaps that would draw more interest, as an incentive. Hospitalists would aid in freeing up time of current physicians. In Tillsonburg, 4 hospitalists would be ideal, with 1 working at a time. One has been recruited for Tillsonburg already, through advertising. Most hospitals within the Province have hospitalists. 7. Next Meeting – April 17, 2018 Notice will be given if meeting is cancelled. 8. Adjournment Resolution Moved By: Dr. Holowachuk Seconded By: S. Jansen THAT the Physician Recruitment & Retention Committee Meeting of March 20, 2018, be adjourned at 12:55 p.m. Carried MEDIA RELEASE April 5, 2018 Physician recruitment efforts have brought three new doctors to the Tillsonburg community TILLSONBURG – Appreciating that family physicians are critical to Tillsonburg and area’s further growth and prosperity, the Town of Tillsonburg and Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital worked together to successfully recruit three new family physicians to our community. Welcome to Dr. Christina Mokone, Dr. Matthew Johnson and Dr. Rebecca Heeney. Dr. Mokone, who will be caring for patients through the Tillsonburg Medical Clinic, studied medicine at the Medunsa Medical University, in South Africa, and has been practicing in Canada for 16 years. Before coming to Tillsonburg, Dr. Mokone practiced in Newfoundland and on First Nations reserves. “I feel Canada’s welcoming attitude fits the life I want to work and live within,” says Dr. Mokone. Dr. Matthew Johnson, also practicing at the Tillsonburg Medical Clinic, completed Medical School at McMaster University, in Hamilton, and did his residency in Family Medicine, in Kitchener-Waterloo. “I enjoy Family Medicine because it allows me to be involved in a very significant way in the health management of my patients,” says Dr. Johnson. “And because I enjoy outdoor activities so much, Tillsonburg is a good fit for me.” Dr. Rebecca Heeney, who practices at the Tillsonburg Family Physicians Office, was born and raised in Tillsonburg, and is a graduate of Glendale High School. Dr Heeney completed her undergraduate degree from Western University, her Masters of Science at the University of Windsor, and her medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine, in Grenada, West Indies. “After many years of world travel, I have chosen to return to Tillsonburg to practice medicine because it became clear-- with every city I visited-- how special the town is, and how much it means to me,” said Dr. Heeney. “When not in the office, you’ll find me walking my dog, or playing on the basketball court or the baseball diamond.” The Town of Tillsonburg and TDMH joined together to develop strategies to recruit and retain family physicians back in 2016. The purpose of the join venture was to ensure quality health care close to home for citizens of our catchment area. Family Physicians also relieve pressure on the Emergency Department (ED) as patients without family physicians currently use the ED for conditions best seen in the primary care setting. Recruitment of family physicians to smaller, rural communities is competitive. To be successful, Tillsonburg needed to be seen as a community of choice amongst new physicians. Also, after discussions with other physicians, it was clear that financial incentives would help in recruitment to make it easier for new doctors cover costs of relocating. - 2 - The physician recruitment efforts by the Town of Tillsonburg and TDMH are considered to be a great success and we look forward to having these remarkable new doctors in our community. For more information, please contact: - 3 - SHARED PHYSICIAN RECRUITMENT INCENTIVE SUPPORT MODEL December 2016 Family physicians are critical to the Town of Tillsonburg’s plans for further growth and prosperity. Recognizing this, the Town of Tillsonburg (Town), Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital (TDMH) and local physicians are working together to offer a variety of incentives and strategies to recruit and retain Family Physicians.  Contribute up to $5,000.00 in moving expenses for relocation to Tillsonburg (with appropriate receipts). The physician recruit must reside within 15 kilometers of Tillsonburg for the moving stipend to apply.  Six months of free housing ($7,350.00). TDMH apartment value, including utilities/TV/Internet/ fully furnished is $1,225.00 per month.  Up to $10,000 for Clinic space and equipment updates, to the Clinic that will employ the physician recruit (with appropriate receipts) (i.e. Electronic Medical Record, new equipment)  Maximum $6,000 per month, for the first six months, payable to the physician recruit toward clinic overhead costs (with appropriate receipts).  The Clinic recruiting the physician recruit will discuss the following:  The intent to practice in Tillsonburg for the long-term  Provide a minimum of four (4) full days/week of professional, medical services in Tillsonburg  It is anticipated that the recruit will take his/her share of a combination of hospital inpatient coverage, and/or ED coverage, and/or Anaesthesia services PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL BRIEFING NOTE - DRAFT DATE: June 5, 2018 FROM: S. Jansen, President and CEO, Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital D. Calder, CAO, Town of Tillsonburg TOPIC: Physician Recruitment Incentive PURPOSE: The purpose of this briefing note is to propose an adjustment to the Physician Recruitment Incentive currently in place. BACKGROUND: In January 2016, a shared physician recruitment incentive support model was implemented collaboratively between the Town of Tillsonburg and Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital. At that time, it was recognized that family physicians are critical to the town’s further growth and prosperity. Since that time, three important factors have changed the landscape, necessitating a re-evaluation of the incentive framework. First, it has become apparent that as the demographics of the population of our communities ages the health care needs of our patient population have become increasingly complex necessitating the need to recruit physicians specially trained in areas like cardiology, respirology and gerontology. Secondly, the acuity of patients seen in our Emergency Department (ED) has increased. Lastly family physicians, with increasing frequency, are expressing the desire to limit their practice to their offices and are opting out of providing coverage to the ED and hospitalized patients. This is driving the need to recruit specialists in Internal Medicine, Hospitalists and ED trained physicians. The pressures described above are creating an unprecedented pressure to recruit physicians into our community however we are experiencing difficulty in attracting these skilled professionals. As highlighted in 2016, financial incentives will increase the probability of physicians relocating to our Community. OBJECTIVE: To ensure the ongoing sustainability viability of the hospital it is imperative that physicians with appropriate training are available to serve the community. FOR DISCUSSION: DRAFT INTERNAL MEDICINE INCENTIVE Transitional Support Package (Internal Medicine):  A forgivable loan of $30,000 based on a five-year return of service agreement for full service to the hospital and community;  Six months of accommodation at property owned by TDMH;  A cash advance on your OHIP billings for up to three months for which the terms of repayment to the hospital will be established by you;  Moving/travel expenses of up to $10,000 if moving internationally and $5000 for moves within the province to assist you in relocating to Tillsonburg.  Clinic space including payment for clerical support to handle bookings, office visits and patient records for up to three months at no cost to you. This is not a permanent arrangement and we will work with you to develop a clinic within the hospital that is cost neutral to the hospital.  Access to Hospital On-Call Coverage Funding.