10 days after the Ministry announcement on physician recruitment incentives was made we have had time to digest and dissect what this will do for local recruitment efforts. The official word is that we have an allowance for $115,800 over four years from the province, with payouts of 30%, 15%, 15% and 40% each year. We are looking at providing additional incentives as part of our restructured approach to recruitment and hope to unveil them officially in the next week or two. We will be updating the content on the incentives page and I’ll post here to let any prospective physicians know what the final picture will be in Dryden; we will be very competitive in our package.
Lots to report on the local front as Dr. Kyle Hampe has settled into a locum Psychiatry practice here with Adult Mental Health and Addictions. Dr. Hampe is originally from the Dryden area and is splitting practice time between Dryden and Kenora providing and enhanced range of services we haven’t had regular access to in some time. Welcome home! Dryden hosted a physician site visit this past weekend and we have another scheduled in early April as we look to add to our staffing compliment.
The Dryden Eagles Senior Girls Volleyball Team finished second in the entire province taking home the silver medal last weekend at OFSAA in Wingham. The Dryden Girls Hockey Team is also representing our community at the provincial championships and won their opening game today 8-0; our local radio station has provided great coverage of both teams by sending a correspondent to provide live play by play action on CKDR (www.ckdr.net). The DHS boys hockey team just missed out on the provincials this year taking perennial powerhouse Fort Frances to the brink before losing out in a hard fought best of three affair. And the Dryden Ice Dogs look to move into the finals of the Superior International Junior Hockey League if they can put away the Fort Frances Lakers tomorrow night at home.
And here at the DRHC we are in the early stages of fundraising for a brand new ultrasound unit for the Diagnostics and Imaging Department. With this addition to the new CT Scan Unit and Digital X-Ray machine the girls in DI will have all the goodies they need. Local service clubs have already begun discussions with the DRHC to provide funding support for this new initiative.
The Dryden Centenial Celebrations start on the May long weekend with an Air Show and show organizers have confirmed The United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt Eastern Demonstration Team will be performing at the Dryden Centennial Air Show May long weekend. The devastating A-10 Thunderbolt 11 (aka ‘the warthog’) will appear alongside the famous Canadian Forces “Snowbirds.” A fly by of F-16′s and demonstrations by the MNR water bombing team are also in the works as the final details are ironed out.
One final note, our third year NOSM clerks Kristie Skunta and Marlon Hagerty will be completing their placements in a few weeks; it’s hard to believe 8 months have gone by so quickly. The clerks will be visiting the Dryden High School this Thursday to present to students in the Sciences/Biology courses about their pathway to medicine at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (www.normed.ca). The DRHC and NOSM are looking at developing a Science Camp to encourage local interest in the Health Care profession.
That’s all my news for now, if you have any questions about any of the site content or blog material you can reach me directly at 807-223-8808 or email at cschmitt@dh.dryden.on.ca
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