The City of Belleville’s Physician Recruitment Program, in place since 2006, has been a big success, attracting 40 new doctors to the city (36 family, four specialists).
And now at the suggestion of Mayor Mitch Panciuk the city’s Economic and Destination Development Committee (EDDC), through its Manager Karen Poste, will investigate
ways to provide incentives to attract other health care professionals like physiotherapists, nurse practitioners, and lab technicians.
While committee member Blair Gamble believed creating medical recruitment programs was outside of the EDDC mandate most members believed having more
health care providers in the city would lead to more business and more permanent residents over time.
Poste will provide a report on options for recruitment programs to the committee in the future but warned that it wouldn’t be as simple a process as recruiting family
doctors, as lab technicians and nurse practitioners often are employees of an organization.
Under the Physician Recruitment Program, the City of Belleville provides $125,000 to medical students in exchange for a minimum five- year commitment to practice in the city after
graduation.
Poste said most of those recruited have stayed longer than the minimum.
