Quinte News had the chance to speak with Belleville mayor Neil Ellis to look back on 2024.
It has been a whirlwind year for the city, but Ellis says it was a great year for doctor recruitment to the area.
While primary health care is a provincial issue, Ellis highlighted the work done by Manager of Physician Recruitment and Retention Karen Poste.
“She’s recruited 11 doctors over the last two years, and bringing in five nurse practitioners. We look at the recruitment, and part of our goal as council is to put it on steroids and get moving with it,” Ellis tells Quinte News.
“With 11 doctors recruited here our goal is to have another 10 doctors recruited over the next two years. The pressure is on Karen Poste but she’s doing a great job.”
When asked about the state of emergency on the overdose crisis that was declared in the City of Belleville in February, Ellis said the decision to declare the emergency has helped put a greater focus on the issue.
“I think overall it’s educated a lot of people that it’s not just a Belleville issue. It’s an Ontario issue, or even a cross-Canada issue. When you look at it, every municipality has unhoused, whether it’s Bancroft, Cobourg, and they’re not getting any better,” Ellis said.
“The number one goal is we have to find more housing, and the three levels of government have to work towards being able to put affordable units on the ground that are geared to income and wraparound services to fix the issues with some of the unhoused.”