A hospital can be a lifeline or a last hope, but in rural Ontario, keeping its doors open often hinges on a single word: locum. With over 350 physician vacancies lingering in northern communities, the struggle to find doctors isn’t just a headline—it’s a daily reality.
The shortage of full-time physicians across rural and northern Ontario has left hospitals and patients in a precarious position. In communities like Wawa and Little Current, hospitals are increasingly reliant on locum doctors—physicians who travel to fill temporary gaps. Without these locums, emergency departments risk closure, and residents face the prospect of driving hundreds of kilometres for urgent care.
Competition among hospitals for locum physicians has become fierce. Financial incentives now reach unprecedented levels, with some hospitals offering up to $18,500 for a single week’s work in hospitalist medicine. Others, like Manitoulin Health Centre, pay well above provincial rates to stay competitive, sourcing funds from vacant positions just to keep the lights on. Yet as one local physician observed, this pay escalation is “a competition that is bad for hospitals and bad for towns.” Smaller or less wealthy communities can quickly find themselves left behind.
Locum work, for many doctors, offers something permanent positions cannot: flexibility and respite from administrative overload. But the transient nature of locum staffing brings its own challenges. While hospitals benefit from short-term coverage, the incentives can deter doctors from settling down and building lasting patient relationships. “We cannot recruit our way out of a retention crisis,” one seasoned locum remarked, echoing a sentiment felt across the province.
The Ontario Medical Association warns the shortage could worsen as nearly half of northern doctors head toward retirement. Efforts like the Rural Emergency Medicine Coverage Investment Fund offer some hope, aiming to support both locum and permanent recruitment, but the gap between need and supply remains wide.
For northern communities, the arrival of a locum doctor is an event worth celebrating—even as it highlights deeper cracks in the health care system. As hospitals continue their tug-of-war over scarce medical talent, one truth stands out: without locum doctors, rural Ontario’s most vulnerable residents risk being left without care at all.
References:
Rural Ontario hospitals offering hefty incentives for traveling doctors amid shortage
