The City of Kingston announced the appointment of 8 new physicians to the city on Thursday, bringing the total number recruited through the Family Physicians Recruitment Incentive Program to 17 since being launched in 2022. A release from the City of Kingston says that the recruitment efforts have helped to ease the backlog of unrostered patients, and has helped Kingston to be one of very few communities in Ontario seeing a decrease in the Healthcare Connect waitlist that is expected to continue to drop as other initiatives take shape in the city later in the year. The city has so far committed $3 million to those recruitment and retention efforts, and Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said in the city’s release that it’s been a necessary investment given the need in the community.
“Kingston has invested $3 million in its physician recruitment project, understanding that primary care is vital to community wellbeing and economic development,” said Paterson. “By collaborating with local and regional partners, we’ve set a new standard in primary care delivery and recently launched an innovative grant program for primary care clinics that’s the first of its kind in Ontario.” Craig Desjardins, Director of Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships said the recruiting of doctors has helped an additional 15,300 people in Kingston become rostered by a family doctor so far.
The physician recruitment program provides a $100,000 incentive to eligible family doctors and also provi.
