1. Welcome
Best Practices for Rural Physician Recruitment
Elements Management
Consulting & Accounting

2. Agenda
Dashboard
Speakers
Q&A
Follow‐Up
Elements Management
Consulting & Accounting

3. Tracy Schira‐Parker
B.Comm, CMA
Elements Management
Consulting & Accounting
Elements Management
Spiritwood, Saskatchewan Consulting & Accounting

4. Topics to Cover
 Where to Start – Accountability, Community,
and Attitude
 Information & Research
 Goals, Targets & Strategy
 Attracting the Right Physician
 Payments, Incentives, Contracts &Guarantees
 Collaborating & Relationships
 Financial Requirements & Economics

5. Background
 In October 2008 Spiritwood hospital was
temporarily shut - lack of physicians for
call
 In January 2010, 2 existing physicians left
 In May 2010 the health region stated that
additional services would be cut

6. Background
 In May 2010 - Northern Lakes Health
Committee (NLHC) – a group of people
from the surrounding communities
 We said that if we are going to do this, we
have to be the smartest, most educated
community group that has ever done this
 In September 2010 we formally started the
physician recruitment process
 Have 1 physician & 2nd will be starting
soon

7. Starting Point

8. Accountability
 Nobody is going to have a vested interest
in physician recruitment like you
 Nobody is motivated to fix your situation
like you are
 Petitions are like ‘white noise’ to politicians
 Pointing fingers shouting ‘fix this for us’ will
not work
 Hard work and dedication will create
results

9. Community Participation
 Itis a big job - need minimum 15+ people
 Need a cross section of people with
resources – time, money, expertise, skills
 Commitment
 Resilience & Determination
 EVERYONE HAS TO BE WORKING
TOGETHER!!!

10. Selective Listening
 More negative than positive messages
 Everyone has an opinion
 The word ‘never’ overused
 Listen with the intention of understanding
and not adopting
 History,…and more history,…and more
history – meant to be a learning tool, not
a road bock

11. Attitude is Everything
 Physician recruitment is harder than I
thought it would be,…and WAY harder
than it needs to be
 Our mantra has always been
FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION

12. Where we started
 Health Care System
 Political Systems
 Communications
 PAPHR (Prince Albert Parkland Health
Region)
 Spiritwood Health Complex
 Partnerships and Collaborating
 Physician Recruitment
 Clinic Models and Options
 Demographics

13. Information You Need
 Physicians– what resources are available
and what is the payment model?
 What is your population coverage?
 What affect does industry & tourism have
on health care needs? (numbers and
data)
 What health care resources do you have?
(primary health care team)
 You need hard data, opinions do not
count

14. Information on Politics
 The system is layered with politics – you
need to understand where you fit in
 Provincial healthcare strategy – where are
they heading? Where do you (rural) fit in?
 Health Region strategy – where do you fit
in?
 MLA & MP – how can they lend support?
 Local municipal politics of the region

15. The Players in the System
Know how the different players will affect
your physician recruitment efforts
 Health Region
 CPSS – College of Physicians & Surgeons of
Saskatchewan
 SaskDocs (Physician Recruitment Agency of
Saskatchewan)
 Ministry of Health

16. Setting Goals & Targets
 What exactly are you trying to
accomplish? Be VERY specific!
 Is it all about physician recruitment? Or it
that just a part of your strategy?
 What are your timelines?
 What financial resources do you have?
 Create your strategy – be sure that it is in
alignment with the provincial and
regional strategies

17. Recruitment Options
 Recruitment Agencies
 Referrals from existing physicians
 Sask Docs (PRAS)
 Sourcing from health regions
 Students – future doctors
 Internal movement (within Canada)
 Expats – Canadians moving back home

18. Attracting the right physician
Stop apologizing for what you are not!!!
Profile your community (write your own)
 What are your strengths?
 What are the attractions and activities?
 What does it feel like to be a part of your
community?
 Why would a physician be lucky and
privileged to be a part of your community?
This is not a time to be modest!!

19. Physician Attributes:
 What kind of physician would love to be in
your community?
 What are their values?
 Safety? Family Friendly?
 Community Based?
 Outdoors and Active?
 Sports and Recreation?
 Not
all physicians are best fit for rural – but
we don’t need ‘all’, we just need a few.

20. Physician Attributes
 What do you expect from a physician?
 What values does the community have?
 What is the community expecting from a
physician?
 Does the physician fit your long term
strategy for health care in your
community?

21. Bonus Payments & Incentives
 We do not pay bonus payments – feel
that if the physician is coming just for the
bonus payment, then they are coming for
the wrong reasons
 We pay 6 months housing and vehicle
 Assist with medical licensing for 1 year
 Community integration (banking, events,
clubs, etc)

22. Contracts & Guarantees
 Contracts signed from physicians for
community guarantee – we did not do.
Research found them to be ineffective.
 Surrender to the fact that there are no
guarantees in physician recruitment or
any other kind of employee recruitment.

23. How long are you going to
stay?
 Will you stay?? WILL YOU STAY???
 Expect physician turnover – it is normal,
natural, and a part of doing ‘business’
 It is not an insult, it is an evolution of their
career
 Turnover is decreased by a balanced and
enhanced life.

24. Timelines
 Be proactive
 Rules are continually changing – it’s a
continual moving target
 Finding the right candidate, interview &
screening, exams, LMO, Visa, into SIPPA
process
 Could be anywhere from 8-20 months
(new changes??)

25. Collaborating
 Rural communities have to work together
 With surrounding communities
 With other communities with physicians
 Municipalities – towns, villages, RM’s
 First Nations communities – Federal
 Community service groups
 Economic development groups

26. Building Relationships
 Relationships are key
 Existing physicians (if you have)
 Regional Board
 Regional Recruitment Staff (if avail)
 Local Stakeholders
 Regional Managers (that are involved)
 Politicians

27. Financial Requirements
 Physician recruitment – if you use
recruitment agency
 Physician Placement–house/vehicle/other
 Clinic & Operations (if you choose to)

28. Economics of Healthcare –
Community Perspective
 If a physician sees between 30 patients in
a day, and each person spends $100
(pharmacy, fuel, groceries, etc) while in
the community (region), financial impact
is $780,000 per year
 Without medical services the community
will lose that economic basis. Local
economy is greatly affected.

29. Conclusion
 Physician recruitment takes work and
dedication but it is worth it
 Finding physicians that want to come to rural
Saskatchewan was not as hard as getting
them through the ‘system’
 Be proactive
 Push status quo to make it work in todays
environment
 Be willing to think outside the box
 Leave hockey at the rink – join forces with
surrounding communities and leverage your
power/influence by working together

30. Conclusion
 Expect Challenges
 Celebrate Wins
 Don’t fight the system, work persistently
with it
 Build relationships
 Don’t apologize for being rural –
be proud of who you are and what
you stand for

31. Q&A
Please send your questions via the Chat or
Question widget on your dashboard.
Elements Management
Consulting & Accounting

32. Stay in Touch
Thank you for joining us!
Elements Management
Accounting & Consulting
Tracy Schira-Parker, B.Comm, CMA
Certified Management Accountant
PO Box 662, Spiritwood, SK. S0J 2M0
dbconsulting@xplornet.com
o. 306.883.2670 c. 306.883.7080