Laurent Robillard-Cardinal
Laurent Robillard-Cardinal
After filling 32 local positions this year, the Outaouais’ Health Agency recruitment team is tasked with recruiting another 30 more doctors for 2015. On October 10, the health ministry announced the province’s medical manpower plan which allocates 30 positions to West Quebec. “We are happy with this number,” said Mathieu Dupont, of the Outaouais’ Health Agency; “it’s one of the highest numbers in the province.”
After Montréal, with 70, and Montérégie (in southwest Quebec) with 50, Outaouais is the region with the highest number of positions to fill for the coming year. “We have an major shortage in Outaouais and this should help us fill our missing 92 to 100 doctors,” said Dupont.
The 30 openings are the same number as last year. ”Two more positions were added during the course of the year,” explained Dupont. The actual gain of doctors in the Outaouais is unknown, since the agency doesn’t keep data on departing doctors regionally.
Province-wide, the net gain of general practitioners is estimated at 200 for 2015. For specialists, the province opened 156 positions for 2015. Since launching the five-year plan in 2011, the government created close to 1,000 positions for medical specialists and 1,597 for general practitioners.
The Outaouais’ Health Agency will next divide up the 30 positions across the region. Last year, more than half the practitioners settled in the CSSS Gatineau territory, five in CSSS de Papineau, four in the des Collines, two in the Pontiac, two in la Vallée-de-la-Gatineau and one at the Outaouais’ rehabilitation centre. The agency is hoping to complete its allocation by December.
