Health-care partners in Kenora, Ont., demand urgent action to address doctor shortage

Health-care professionals and advocates are sounding the alarm over the doctor shortage in Kenora, Ont., which they say has put the region's health-care system "on the brink of collapse."

The northwestern Ontario city and surrounding First Nations are served by a small group of general practitioner physicians. On Tuesday, the All Nations Health Partners Ontario Health Team (ANHP OHT) issued a statement saying the lack of doctors and "fractured" physician service agreements means Kenora's emergency department at Lake of the Woods District Hospital (LWDH) is at risk of closure.

"Our local physician group is in crisis with the loss of yet another physician and impending retirements, which will leave thousands of patients without primary care," says the statement.

Meanwhile, "the physician funding for First Nation communities expires within the next few months, threatening to further the health inequities already experienced by the Indigenous population," it says.

The number of physicians in Kenora's emergency department has gone from about 20 in early 2022 down to nine part-time physicians today, according to LWDH.

An advisory committee is pushing Ontario's Minister of Health to adopt a new rural generalist care model to better serve patients in the Kenora area.

"The model is designed to provide continuous health care services and establish a competitive compensation plan for all rural generalist physicians," says the statement from ANHP OHT.

LWDH says its emergency department "has been at risk of closure multiple times over the last year and twice this summer alone."

"We have approximately one third of the number of physicians we need but are providing the same level of service as if we were fully staffed," said Dr. Meghan Olson, president of medical staff on the LWDH board of directors, in a statement issued by the hospital Wednesday.

"Without significant change to our health-care system, I cannot see how it is physically possible for such a small group of doctors to maintain our current services."

CBC News received an emailed statement from Kenora–Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford on Wednesday in response to concerns around physician staffing.

"Since forming government, we have been focused on improving access to health-care programs and services for patient care closer to home. This includes making Kenora one of the first destinations for transitioning to an Ontario Health Team focused on developing and implementing streamlined access to community-based services," Rickford said.

He pointed to a number of efforts, including:

"I acknowledge that we are at a critical point in negotiations on a physician service agreement and continue to work with the physician service group leadership and Ministry of Health officials on the remaining elements of an agreement," Rickford said.