The Town of Huntsville is developing a physician incentive program, starting with a financial signing incentive. At today’s Special Council Meeting, Huntsville Town Council approved offering a financial incentive to help attract much-needed primary healthcare providers (family doctors) to serve the Town’s growing number of unattached patients. The incentive will consist of a $60,000 signing bonus for up to four new physicians in Huntsville. As directed by Council, staff will continue to work on an incentive program and report back to Council on potential incentive packages moving forward.
“Huntsville has a lot to offer prospective new family doctors with the beautiful natural environment and local amenities; however, this incentive was created in order to be competitive within the Ontario healthcare landscape,” said Councillor Bob Stone. “Many communities are trying to recruit doctors currently, and we want to ensure Huntsville is one of the destinations of choice within Muskoka and area for prospective doctors.”
Doctor recruitment is a major priority for Huntsville residents, as evidenced in the extensive public consultation for development of the Town’s recently-adopted Strategic Plan (see Huntsville.ca). Huntsville Council and Economic Development staff have recognized this priority and have been actively involved in physician recruitment for over two years, working together with the regional Muskoka Area Ontario Health Team (MAOHT) and the local Algonquin Family Health Team (AFHT). There are currently over 3,000 people without a primary care provider in Huntsville; this number is expected to increase significantly as local physicians retire.
Funding for the new physician signing bonuses will come from the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) reserve, not from the taxbase. This initiative is an example of how the MAT reserve improves what the community of Huntsville has to offer and increases quality of life for residents.
“We know through public consultation that doctor recruitment is extremely important to Huntsville residents. So many residents are without a family doctor and this number will only continue to increase as doctors retire. This financial incentive is just the first piece in building an attractive physician incentive program.” says Lauren MacDermid, Economic Development Officer. “I also want to acknowledge and thank our local businesses and community partners for supporting our current and past physician recruitment efforts. We look forward to continuing to work together as the new program is developed.”
In the coming months, the Town will be working on including this financial incentive in a comprehensive physician incentive program to attract primary care physicians, in addition to partnering with the local business community. Many Town businesses and organizations have supported physician recruitment efforts throughout the years and the Town will continue to collaborate on incentive opportunities.
The physician incentive program will be open to all qualifying primary care physicians who relocate to Huntsville – if you’re interested in learning more, would like a tour of Huntsville, and/or want to meet our family healthcare team, visit Huntsville.ca/DoctorsWanted or contact the Town’s Economic Development Officer at: lauren.macdermid@huntsville.ca.
If you are a resident or business who would like to participate in enhancing the physician incentives please submit your information at Huntsville.ca/DoctorsWanted or reach out to the Town’s Economic Development Officer at: lauren.macdermid@huntsville.ca to discuss.
