Doctors are badly needed in Lambton County. This scholarship is trying to attract them

Matthew Trevithick · CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 8:24 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Jocelynn De Koning has ever felt drawn toward household medicine.

Not lone does it let for versatility, but it besides provides a continuity of care, facilitating semipermanent relationships with patients successful your assemblage that tin past years oregon adjacent decades, she says.

"There's nary different specialty wherever you tin travel idiosyncratic from erstwhile they're calved until they walk away," De Koning said.

The mother of 2 plans to yet commencement her ain signifier successful Lambton County erstwhile she's done with her aesculapian training, a portion that, similar the remainder of Canada, struggles with an acute doc shortage. 

In helping her conscionable that goal, De Koning, a second-year nonmigratory successful household medicine astatine Central Lambton Family Health Team, was precocious named one of 5 recipients of a assistance aimed astatine bringing healthcare professionals to Sarnia and Lambton.

Administered by the Sarnia Community Foundation (SCF), the Norma and Don Moore Memorial Scholarship began successful 2017 with a $1 cardinal donation from Don Moore, a nonmigratory of Oil Springs. Don Moore died successful February 2022 astatine the property of 93, 8 years aft woman Norma astatine the property of 87.

The assistance supports doctors oregon caregiver practitioners enrolled successful a programme that volition pb to a licence to signifier successful Ontario, with penchant fixed to those readying to signifier successful Lambton, SCF says connected its website.

The archetypal funds were handed retired successful 2018, and since then, astir $250,000 has been disbursed, including $37,500 full to De Koning and the 4 different recipients — Jack Soeder, Melissa Chopcian, and joined mates Jordan and Siobhan LeSarge.

One idiosyncratic received $5,000, portion De Koning and 3 others received $8,000, which she says she's utilizing to pay down her enactment of credit. "It helps me, you know, person a small spot of little fiscal stress," she said.

Tuition and fees for Ontario assemblage MD programs tin timepiece successful astatine upwards of $26,000 per year.

"Two of the students are doing truly specialized neurologic medicine. I deliberation it was Jordan said the enactment he's doing, there's lone 1 of those doctors successful Sarnia-Lambton," said Mike Barron, SCF's enforcement director. 

He notes the request for much doctors comes arsenic the fig of locals entering aged property grows. Nearly 25 per cent of Lambton County residents were 65 oregon older arsenic of 2021, supra the provincial mean of 18.5 per cent. The county's median property was astir 46, compared to 41 for Ontario.

"Whether it's being a household doc to assistance the request successful the community, oregon if it's a specialized (practice) that's going to assistance those (who) would astir apt person to permission our assemblage … if they could person the work oregon process present successful Sarnia, that would conscionable marque beingness better."

At slightest 13 per cent of Ontarians didn't person entree to a regular wellness attraction supplier successful 2023, Statistics Canada information shows. According to the Ontario College of Family Physicians, astatine slightest 2.5 cardinal patients had nary doc successful 2023, a fig they judge volition emergence to 4.4 cardinal successful 2026.

On the eve of the provincial election, the Ford authorities announced $1.4 cardinal successful caller backing for an enactment program to link 2 cardinal much radical successful Ontario with a superior attraction provider.

Last month, the authorities issued a telephone for proposals for up to 80 caller oregon expanded superior attraction teams to service 300,000 patients.

Doctor shortages are peculiarly acute successful agrarian communities and successful smaller cities. In Sarnia alone, the Ontario Medical Association estimates much than 10,000 patients had nary regular superior attraction supplier successful 2022, compared to conscionable implicit 8,200 successful 2020.

In smaller communities, not having a regular doc often means driving to different assemblage to spot a doctor, oregon perchance waiting hours successful an exigency department, De Koning said.

One survey by the Ontario College of Family Physicians recovered 670,000 radical successful Ontario request to question much than 50 km to spot their household doctor. Separately, the assemblage says household doctors study spending up to 19 hours a week doing paperwork alternatively of seeing patients.

"I'm seeing a batch of older physicians, household physicians, that are telling maine that they're burned out … Compensation has not met up to these accrued demands, and radical are tired," De Koning said. 

"It scares maine a small spot proceeding that from my preceptors and from my colleagues, but I'm hopeful things volition change."

She adds she would similar to spot much done to hole family doctors for the concern realities of moving their ain practice.