Doctor recruitment is a competitive endeavour these days but local municipalities want to make sure they aren’t poaching from each other.
A Regional Recruitment Memorandum of Understanding has been developed between five communities with doctor recruitment programs – Belleville, Quinte West, Hastings County, Prince Edward County and Brighton – that would ensure that they do not compete with one another for doctors who have already settled in the region.
This would avoid the potential movement of doctors between municipalities for the purpose of earning a second Return of Service incentive.
At Monday’s meeting, Belleville City Council will be asked to authorize the mayor and city clerk to sign the agreement. Brighton council will also deal with the memorandum Monday and Quinte West council will vote on it Wednesday.
Although Belleville has wording in its doctor recruitment policy prohibiting the ‘poaching’ of a doctor from another community, staff support a formal agreement with the city’s neighbours in the spirit of cooperation.
