A clinic of one's own

A doc and his community take on the physician shortage and build themselves a clinic

By Sharon Aschaiek

If we build it, they will come. That was the rationale behind the construction of the non-profit Community Physicians Clinic, a state-of-the-art health facility in St Catharines, ON. After living with an acute shortage of primary care physicians for over a decade and with a wave of doctor retirements on the horizon, the community decided it was time to take matters into its own hands.

The result was a highly successful fundraising campaign that generated $465,000 from local businesses. And in March, St Catharines residents celebrated the launch of the high-tech, fully staffed clinic. A complete turnkey operation, the facility has cutting edge electronic medical records (used in less than 10% of Ontario family practices), laboratory facilities, an in-house procedure room, separate examination rooms and a baby care area.

Organizers further sweetened the pot with an attractive financial package that gives over 70% of the service fees to the clinic's physicians, as well as relocation reimbursements for eligible candidates. Furthermore, a variety of perks are being offered to lure physicians to life in the heart of Ontario's wine-growing region, including golf passes, fitness club memberships, tickets to the Niagara Symphony and more.

BUILDING AN IDEA
"We needed to create an attractive facility to anchor physicians, and to help to integrate them into the local community," says key organizer Dr Fraser MacKay, an emergency physician who's been living and working in St Catharines all his life. It was his vision and dedication that spurred the clinic's birth.

The idea had been fermenting for some time, but it wasn't until late 2001 -- when he began collaborating with Mark Sherk, a friend and professional fundraiser -- that he did anything about it. In 2002, the two managed to get approval for the project from the city, which agreed to act as landlord and offered them a space at a subsidized rent.

When it came time to fundraise, Mr Sherk found the local businesses to be extremely receptive. "I turned this into a grassroots initiative and connected the business community with the medical community," he says. "Everybody loved the concept." In September 2003, more than 50 volunteers signed on to help out, and in just four months the 372 square metre clinic was completed.

Sure enough, their efforts quickly paid off. Shortly after the national recruitment campaign kicked off in May, three physicians signed on and two others sent letters of intent.

MEDICAL MIGRATION
"The community really wanted this because one in four people here don't have a family doctor," says Mr Sherk. Indeed, the conditions that inspired Mr Sherk and Dr MacKay to take action in St Catharines are shared by hundreds of communities across Canada. A November 2002 survey sponsored by the College of Family Physicians of Canada showed that 15% of Canadians had trouble finding a family doctor in that past year. The shortage is most acutely felt in rural areas. Although 31% of Canadians live in these regions, only about 17% of our family physicians and 4% of specialists practise there.

They identified a number of contributing factors, including longer post-graduate training, fewer foreign-trained doctors entering practice, increased retirements, and the growing number of physicians leaving Canada to practise elsewhere.

Some initiatives are helping the clinic out, such as help for international medical graduates in fast tracking the regulatory administrative and academic hurdles, and tuition assistance grants for family medicine residents from the provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

The clinic also has several far-reaching goals to help deal constructively with the areas health service shortcomings in the longer term. For one, the clinic is being set up as an incubator facility that will allow new doctors to spend up to four years working and living in St Catharines before establishing their own independent practice. Through their company, AccessMD, Dr MacKay and his partner Dr Robert Fallis will manage ongoing administration and recruitment.

As Mr Sherk says, "They're not just going to work here, they're coming to our community and getting a complete package -- a lifestyle as well as a career."

For more information,
go to the clinic website at www.cpclinic.com