Kincardine council

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Peggy Zeppieri has a plan to bring doctors to Kincardine.

The physician recruitment co-ordinator was at Kincardine council Wednesday night (April 7), outlining that process and how it will successfully recruit physicians for this area.

She plans to do the following: attend job fairs throughout Ontario; develop relationships with the residents and learners who are completing their rural elective in the community of Kincardine; continue the mentorship of local high school and undergraduate students who are considering a possible career in medicine; and work through the International Immigrant Program to draw doctors to Kincardine.

One benefit, she said, is that Kincardine is again considered an under-serviced area for physicians, which means more provincial government funding and assistance in the search for new doctors.

As for marketing Kincardine, she said many of the prospects are technical-savvy individuals who live in a connected world. This means using such avenues as Twitter, Facebook and You Tube to reach these people.

"I have to market the community and give prospective physicians a reason for wanting to come to Kincardine," said Zeppieri. "Over the next few months, I want to focus on some ideas and videos to post on You Tube, on the 'Linkedin' profile for Physicians in Kincardine, and other social media."

She has already seen some success from the work done before she took on the recruiter position, as two new doctors are set to join the physicians group this summer, bringing the total to 10 doctors at the Kincardine Community Medical Clinic.

"I've had a couple of site visits and we have a doctor interested in coming to Kincardine in 2011," she said, "and there's another doctor who will be ready in 2012. These come from past job fairs."

Zeppieri plans to attend job fairs in June at area universities to continue that avenue of success.

Councillor Kenneth Craig asked if the municipality is required to have an incentive package for doctors.

"It's a reality at this point," said Zeppieri. "We are competitive with other communities. Some have higher incentive packages. We are an under-serviced area so that offers doctors additional income. We're hoping down the road we won't have to have incentive packages, but we'll have to wait and see."

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Sunday, April 11, 2010