Provincial funding aids town’s physician recruitment efforts

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

Efforts to attract more physicians to town received a boost from the Province of Ontario.

Tillsonburg’s health care recruitment marketing campaign, aimed at attracting family physicians and other health care professionals to locate in town, received $29,000 from the province’s Rural Ontario Development program. This represents half the $58,000 cost, with the town paying the remainder.

The funding will support the development of promotional materials, digital and print advertising, and a dedicated recruitment-focused website showcasing Tillsonburg as the ideal community for health care providers. It will highlight available health care opportunities, the benefits of practicing in Tillsonburg, relocation supports, professional growth opportunities, and the community assets that make the town an attractive place to live and work.

Launching later this year, the campaign will be a mix of online advertising, a dedicated website, marketing materials, and promotion across a variety of channels to maximize its reach.

Peter Raji, Tillsonburg’s Manager of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives, explained there are different strategies to be deployed to attract medical professionals, depending on whether they are students or established.

“When it comes to attracting established medical professionals, there is significant data available regarding where healthcare providers have been successfully recruited in recent years,” he said. “We plan to leverage those insights to target our outreach efforts and focus on regions and audiences where there is demonstrated.”

Recruitment efforts for students are already underway. Earlier this year, town representatives attended Western University’s Family Medicine Resident Retreat to speak to medical residents about the advantages of locating in Tillsonburg.

“ We will continue building relationships with educational institutions and future healthcare professionals as part of our broader recruitment strategy,” Raji said.

Mayor Deb Gilvesy was grateful for the province’s support for the initiative.

“These funds will help create high-quality promotional content that showcases everything our community has to offer, and highlights why Tillsonburg is a great place for primary care providers to build their careers, raise families and put down roots,” she said. “This is another positive step toward strengthening health care access for our residents.”

"Access to quality health care starts with making sure communities can attract the professionals they need,” said Ernie Hardeman, MPP for Oxford. “This investment will help Tillsonburg strengthen its recruitment efforts and continue building a strong local health-care system for residents today and into the future. I'm pleased our government is supporting this important initiative."

The number of residents not assigned to a primary care provider, such as a physician or nurse practitioner, took a positive step forward earlier this year with the announcement of the opening of the nurse practitioner-led clinic scheduled for this year. The May announcement, which included the Tillsonburg clinic, also included other locations in Oxford to provide health care for a total of 13,000 patients. Still, there are estimated to be 2,900 Tillsonburg residents who will be unattached, the town’s release stated. Tillsonburg also supports a broader catchment area into Elgin and Norfolk Counties, with the testimate being more than 160,000 people who rely on local health care infrastructure and services.

There are 13 family physicians in Tillsonburg. However, across the county, 35 per cent of family physicians are more than 60 years of age.

The recruitment initiative is supported by local and regional partners, including Rural Roads Health Services (formerly Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital), the Oxford Ontario Health Team, local Family Health Organizations and other partners.

The funding was one of several local Rural Ontario Development program projects announced in Oxford County. In Oxford, the province is investing a total of $145,318 to support economic growth and long-term prosperity.