Timmins hospital says the need for locums is great, but it’s a way to recruit

Officials at the hospital in Timmins say they are in need of locums – temporary doctors who fill in for those on leave – but add there’s no cause for alarm.

The Timmins and District Hospital frequently advertises that it needs physicians who can fill in for others.

Recently, it posted on its social media page a list of about 12 specialties, including anesthesiology, pediatrics, psychiatry and general surgery, that all require locums – doctors who fill in for those who are off or away.

Dr. Doug Arnold, the hospital’s chief of staff and vice-president of medicine, said the need for locums is increasing because the shortage of physicians is a nationwide issue.

“So when everyone else is struggling, we’re going to struggle even more,” said Arnold.

However, the hospital doesn’t let that get in the way of ensuring services continue. That’s because it works at attracting and compensating locums.

“We do a very good job at making sure that we have 24/7 so it’s, you know, we haven’t had to close any services,” said Arnold.

“We have had our challenges. We have met the challenges. Our senior leadership and our board are well aware of our challenges and support us in our efforts. Because they also don’t want to see us with gaps in our coverage.”

Recruiting strategy

He added that would mean patients would have to travel out of town for care.

The hospital said the locum program is also a good recruiting strategy.

“They come, they get a chance to test out our environment, what it’s like to work here and, you know, we have had some success over the years attracting them to set up a full-time practice,” said Arnold.

Three new physicians recently joined TADH and the goal is to hire 10 more this fiscal year.

Arnold pointed out that for a medium-sized hospital, TADH provides more services than many others of the same size, but the challenge that comes with that is staffing.

However, he said if doctors take the hospital up on one of its locum opportunities, he is certain they’ll seriously consider relocating to Timmins to work full-time.

The hospital currently has around 90 full-time physicians, of which about 40 are family doctors.