Latest news with #doctorShortage
CBC
29-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
St. Thomas area doctor incentive program funds 7 physicians so far this year
A financial incentive program offered by the City of St. Thomas and Elgin County to attract and retain family doctors has doled out funds this year to seven physicians, including at least three new to the region. It's among financial incentives on offer across Ontario from municipal and county governments with the aim of curtailing growing doctor shortages and retaining family physicians. In St. Thomas, the city and county have offered $33,000 in interest-free, forgivable loans for years as part of a Health Recruitment Partnership involving local politicians and other community stakeholders, including St. Thomas Elgin General hospital and the area Home Builders' Association. The loans can be used for office expenses and medical equipment, among other things, and are forgivable on condition the doctor provide at least four years of service in the county. Last week, St. Thomas council endorsed providing funding to two new doctors — Dr. Wallace Ordiah and Dr. Aghogho Nathaniel Oyibo — who plan to begin practising in the city this year. The city and county also offer a scholarship awarding $1,000 per year to up to 10 people enrolled in accredited medical schools, with an emphasis on those pursuing a career as a family doctor locally. Urgent need for family doctors There are many reasons for the shortage of doctors plaguing Ontario municipalities, said Lori Baldwin-Sands, a St. Thomas city council member and chair of the Health Recruitment Partnership. One challenge is the large patient rosters of retiring doctors, which sometimes number as many as 5,000 patients, she said. New doctors coming out of medical school are looking for a better quality of life, and smaller rosters of between 1,000 to 1,500 patients, she said. "This has created an urgent need in communities everywhere, because the doctors that are retiring are leaving a lot of their patients orphaned," by not being able to have a new doctor take on their full patient roster, she told CBC's Afternoon Drive on Tuesday. "The last statistics that we had show about 10,000 orphaned residents without a family doctor within our community, and we know that the numbers are higher," she said referring to both St. Thomas and Elgin County. "We've heard the number can go as high as 15,000, 20,000." At least 13 per cent of Ontarians didn't have access to a regular health care provider in 2023, Statistics Canada data shows. Doctor shortages are more acute in rural communities, and one study by the Ontario College of Family Physicians found at least 670,000 Ontarians travel 50 km or more to see their doctor. In neighbouring London, the idea of municipalities offering financial incentives to attract doctors has garnered criticism from Mayor Josh Morgan, who believes they should be illegal, calling them a race to the bottom which pits municipalities against one another. In March, London councillors voted to provide $50,000 for one year to the Middlesex-London Ontario Health Team, which is leading doctor recruitment efforts in the county. The health team had requested $80,000 over three years. Other Ontario cities offering incentives includes Welland, which provides $100,000 to doctors who moved to the city to launch or take over an existing practice, with the promise they stay in the city for five years. The $1 million program has attracted at least 14 doctors to the city since its 2023 launch. In Huntsville, doctors are lured with an $80,000 signing bonus if they agree to work there for at least five years, while in Marmora and Lake near eastern Ontario, doctors have been offered riverfront housing and clinic space at zero cost. "Some of them are very different. I have talked to some doctors that said they were offered a house for a five-year period. Some doctors are told they would have their tuition paid," Baldwin-Sands said. "We have, in St. Thomas and Elgin County, a quality of life that we feel is second to none. That's why, next week, we're hosting a group of medical students here in the community and showcasing some of the beautiful gems that we have."
Forbes
27-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Doctor Wait Times Average One Month In U.S.
Patients are waiting an average of 31 days to schedule an appointment with a doctor, according to a ... More study by AMN Healthcare of commonly used specialty physicians in 15 major U.S. cities. Patients are waiting an average of 31 days to schedule an appointment with a doctor, according to a study of commonly used specialty physicians in 15 major U.S. cities. This year's report by AMN Healthcare shows a 19% increase from 2022 when patients waited an average of 26 days in major U.S. cities. The 2025 survey polled more than 1,300 physician offices looking at average wait time among six specialties: obstetrics/gynecology, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, dermatology, gastroenterology, and family medicine. The report is also a snapshot into the nation's doctor shortage even in urban areas that are considered better staffed with physicians than rural areas. A report last month by the consulting firm Avalere commissioned by the Physicians Advocacy Institute said the number of independent physicians in rural areas fell 43% between January 2019 and January 2024. And the Association of American Medical Colleges says the United States will face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036, according to a report the group released last year. AMN Healthcare said the metropolitan areas that made up the survey sampling have 'some of the highest physician-to-population ratios in the country.' 'It's a sobering sign for the rest of the country when even patients in large cities must wait weeks to see a physician,' said Leah Grant, president of AMN Healthcare's Physician Solutions division, formerly known as Merritt Hawkins. The increasing time to schedule an appointment comes as more Americans get health insurance and health systems and plans report pent up demand for physician services in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'Average physician appointment wait times are the longest they have been since we began conducting the survey in 2004,' Grant said. 'Longer physician appointment wait times are a significant indicator that the nation is experiencing a growing shortage of physicians.' Here the wait times for the six specialists analyzed for the report. The AMN Healthcare survey includes data from 1,391 physician offices located in 15 metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
CTV News
23-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
B.C. hospital closing pediatric unit for 6 weeks
A major hospital in B.C.'s Interior is shutting down its general pediatrics unit for 'at least six weeks' die to a doctor shortage.
New York Times
06-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Blackstone President Donates $125 Million to Tel Aviv University
As Israel faces a doctor shortage, Jonathan Gray, the president of the investment firm Blackstone, and his wife, Mindy, are donating $125 million to Tel Aviv University's health science and medical school. The donation, through the Grays' foundation, is the largest ever to Tel Aviv University, and is expected to allow the medical school enrollment to increase by a quarter. The funds will support, among other things, a new 600-bed dormitory, scholarships and new teaching facilities. Israel's limited capacity for medical training has contributed to a persistent shortage of doctors. As of 2020, the number of doctors per capita was about 10 percent below the average of countries in the Organization for Economic Corporation and Development. 'When Israeli students go to study medicine abroad, some of them stay — and for us, it's a loss' Professor Ariel Porat, the university's president, said. 'This is the brain drain that people talk about in many other fields, but it's especially acute with doctors.'
