Latest news with #TimminsDistrictHospital
CBC
20-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Timmins hospital offering some locum doctors more than $4K per day
The Timmins and District Hospital is offering locums more than $4,000 per day in an online recruitment campaign on social media. Locums are visiting doctors who fill in for physicians who are on leave or holidays. Hospitals across northern Ontario rely on locums to keep emergency departments and other important services running. The Timmins and District Hospital is offering internal medicine locums a minimum daily rate of $2,330 along with an additional incentive of $2,000 a day to work at the hospital. The ad also highlights flexible scheduling and paid travel days as incentives for visiting doctors. The hospital says it is looking for "urgent coverage" for the week of June 2 to 8. In a separate ad, the Timmins and District Hospital is offering the same incentives for a general surgery locum, at a minimum daily rate of $2,430 and an additional incentive of $2,000 per day. The hospital says it needs a general surgery locum for June 10 to 12 and for June 19 to 22. "Our hospital is supported through a blend of locum and full-time physicians who support patients in a variety of health services," hospital spokesperson Stephanie Banks said in an email to CBC News. "Occasionally, some gaps occur in our scheduled coverage, and our hospital will offer incentives to close those gaps. Additionally, our hospital also has back-up contingency strategies to ensure the continuity of care for all our patients." Andrew Longhurst, a health policy researcher at Simon Fraser University, says the compensation packages many hospitals offer locums, coupled with a reliance on more expensive agency nurses, is not a long-term plan. "It's not a sustainable model for our public system. It's very costly," he said. Longhurst says a reliance on locums speaks to physician recruitment challenges many hospitals face. Most physicians working in Ontario hospitals are essentially contractors and operate under the fee-for-service model, in which they bill the province for each service they provide. Some work as salaried employees though, which is a model that is more common with certain specialties, such as oncology. "We have a growing body of evidence in Canada that an increasing share of physicians do not want to work as independent contractors," Longhurst said. "They are seeking practice models that better reflect their desire to have more work-life balance, to not be business owners, to not be responsible for running and managing a business, their own clinic."
CBC
14-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
4 northern Ontario hospitals each get $10K from the RBC Foundation for nurse training
Hospitals in Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, Lake of the Woods and Dryden all receiving the funding Four northern Ontario hospitals have received $10,000 donations from the RBC Foundation to provide new training for their registered nurses. The Lake Of the Woods District Hospital, Dryden Regional Hospital, Timmins and District Hospital and Sault Area Hospital have all received the funds, which they plan to use for different training programs. The Sault Area Hospital will use the money to train local instructors who can provide certification training to the hospital's 500 registered nurses. Sue Roger, the hospital's chief nursing executive, said the money will allow those trainers to travel to larger centres where they can receive the training they can then pass on to their colleagues. They will train nurses on two certification programs: basic life support and advanced cardiovascular support. "It's a big win for the organization," Roger said. "You know, folks don't have to take it externally. They don't have to pay for it. We can do all of that work here at the hospital." At the Timmins and District Hospital, the money will pay for a charge nurse leadership training program. "The charge nurse is very imperative in the health-care system," said Kim Bazinet, the hospital's director of clinical services. "She plays a pivotal role in managing patient care, supporting staff and in maintaining smooth operations on the hospital unit." Bazinet said the hospital is planning to start offering the course in June. "I think it's very important in healthcare, given the fact that it is Nurses Week, that we give the nurses the tools to be successful in their career," she said. Josee Jean, the Timmins and District Hospital's director of surgical services, said the training should also help with retaining current nurses and recruiting new employees.
