CENTRAL MANITOULIN—Faced with the unsettling news that the emergency room at the Mindemoya site of the Manitoulin Health Centre may be closed a number of days in October due to staff shortages, Central Manitoulin council passed a motion in support of a request from the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM). That request was for a motion from the municipality indicating Central Manitoulin’s support for the Northern School of Medicine (NOSM)’s request for an increase of $4 million in base funding before the end of the year.
The motion notes that one in eight Northern Ontario residents do not have a family doctor due, in part, to the shortage of trained physicians and specialists and that the life expectancy of Northern residents is two years lower than the provincial average and experience four times higher rates of mental health and addictions.
The motion goes on to point out that although the province announced an “unprecedented” medical expansion for NOSM medical programs, base funding has not increased sufficiently to accommodate that growth and expansion. The motion included a provision that a copy of the motion be forwarded to a wide range of provincial ministers, including the premier and deputy premier, as well as the heads of each of the opposition parties.
Councillor Derek Stevens suggested that Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Mantha be included in the motion, to which Mayor Richard Stephens replied, “sure, he is still our MPP.” Mr. Mantha, a former NDP member was removed from the NDP caucus following “substantiated” allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and now sits as an independent.
Councillor Stephens went on to note that he had an opportunity to speak with Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones while at the recent AMO conference. “She told me that ‘nothing is off the table’,” he said of finding solutions to the issue of the Northern doctor shortage. Councillor Stephens went on to assert that NOSM has been highly effective in selecting students who later decide to remain in the North to practice.
Councillor Rose Diebolt interjected into the discussion that for anyone applying for training as a nurse practitioner, “it is free.”
Councillor Dale Scott brought up the matter of the other Northern medical school located at Lakehead in Thunder Bay, going on to say that he wondered what the relationship in levels of funding for Northern schools of medicine is in relation to those in southern Ontario. He noted that members of his family are doctors and backed up Councillor Stephens’ assertion that NOSM is effective in training doctors who then stay in the North.
Councillor Brian Mitchell inquired if it was mandatory that NOSM students remain in the North following graduation, to which Councillor Scott replied it was not.
The motion carried unanimously.
