Health-care partners in Kenora, Ont., demand urgent action to address doctor shortage – CBC

Only 9 part-time physicians serving emergency department, says city’s hospital

Sep 05, 2024

Health-care professionals and advocates are sounding the alarm over the doctor shortage in Kenora, Ont., saying it has put the region’s health-care system “on the brink of collapse.”

The northwestern Ontario city and surrounding First Nations are served by a small group of general practitioner physicians. On Tuesday, the All Nations Health Partners Ontario Health Team (ANHP OHT) issued a statement saying the lack of doctors and “fractured” physician service agreements mean Kenora’s emergency department at Lake of the Woods District Hospital (LWDH) is at risk of closure.

“Our local physician group is in crisis with the loss of yet another physician and impending retirements, which will leave thousands of patients without primary care,” says the statement.

Meanwhile, “the physician funding for First Nation communities expires within the next few months, threatening to further the health inequities already experienced by the Indigenous population,” it says.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/kenora-doctor-shortage-1.7313516