Doctor Shortage Included In Report

Northern Ontario's doctor shortage is drawing the attention of Ontario's Auditor General. In her annual report, Bonnie Lysyk says while the province has increased the number of physicians, only 5-percent are practicing in rural areas where 14-percent of Ontario's population live. Lysyk notes that locum doctors, meant to cover short-term vacancies in eligible communities, are instead being used for long periods of time. At the time of the audit, there were about 200 specialist vacancies in Northern Ontario, and a third of the hospitals had been using temporary physician services continuously since 2007.