AMHERST – Amherst is prepared to financially support a Cumberland County doctor recruitment committee, but the Municipality of Cumberland has said no thanks.
Amherst decided at its June council meeting on Monday to commit more than $10,000 to the recruiting efforts, agreeing to cover its share as well as the county’s and even Oxford’s, if it’s unable to provide its share of the funding.
“The physician community has identified that the recruitment process needs to be supported locally,” Mayor David Kogon said. “Relying on centralized administration to recruit and retain physicians for our area without our support has proven dangerously ineffective.”
The town’s share of the funding, based on a per capita basis, would have been $3,424, while the county and Oxford would be responsible for the remainder of the funding.
Oxford council has yet to meet to consider the request.
“The best advocates for our community are our own community members, especially physicians themselves,” the mayor said. “This needs to be supported, as it is a resource and time-intense process.”
Kogon did not want to comment on the county’s decision, but said the town is stepping up to make sure the committee is funded. He stressed the money will not be used to cover physician salaries for time they take out of the office to support the committee’s work. The doctors are volunteering their time for the committee.
Instead, the funding will cover expenses associated with attending job fairs where doctors are recruited as well as booth fees for recruiting events at Dalhousie University in September, at the Family Medicine Forum in Toronto and the Dalhousie specialty recruiting fair next spring.
Cumberland County Warden Allison Gillis said his council supports the work of the committee, but it doesn’t agree with funding what should be a provincial responsibility.
“We discussed it as a council and we just don’t think it’s something we should be funding,” Gillis said. “Health care and the recruiting of doctors is a provincial responsibility and the work of this committee should be funded by the province, not the municipal taxpayers.”
Gillis understands recruiting additional doctors will benefit everyone in Cumberland County, and the county plans to remain a member of the committee, but council can’t support municipal funding.
The situation is the opposite of 2006 when the municipal units were asked to fund part of the community portion of the money required to open a third operating room at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre.
The county fully supported the fundraising campaign, while the town refused to a request for $250,000 saying health care is a provincial responsibility.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
