The Town of Gravenhurst has pledged $10,000 to continue supporting the Health Human Resources Recruiter Program for the next three years.
The program has been funded for the past three years by a partnership of hospital foundations, the District of Muskoka, and area municipalities like Gravenhurst. However, that funding arrangement is set to expire at the end of 2025.
During the August 12 council meeting, representatives of the Muskoka Almaguin Ontario Health Team said they have had a “very successful” recruitment over the past three years, but staff shortages persist.
“We still see a shortfall of family physicians, nurse practitioners, and that’s the particular focus of the recruiter at this point in time and the HHR task force,” said David Gravel, Muskoka Almaguin Ontario Health Team recruiter.
The presentation to council showed that 26 per cent of family physicians have been in practice for more than 30 years, and 18 per cent of nurse practitioners have been in practice for more than 20 years.
He said many are approaching retirement age and they’ll need to maintain current staffing levels with new physicians, while also recruiting for the current shortfall.
According to Gravel, the patient services waitlists are still high, with South Muskoka having 13,000 and Huntsville and area having 5,176.
He said they have had 25 new recruits over the last year, all of whom have replaced retirees.
Following the presentation, council unanimously approved a three-year commitment of $10,000 for the program within the 2026 budget.
“I do want to thank all the work that goes into behind the scenes to recruit physicians and nurse practitioners,” said Mayor Heidi Lorenz.
The program, which started in 2019, is a voluntary, formal collaboration of local health and social service providers working together to address healthcare workforce shortages by focusing on recruitment and retention strategies.
