The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

New doctors still sorely needed in Halton By Tim Foran OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 9 · Wednesday, February 24, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Halton Region has announced the successful recruitment of two new family doctors to Oakville and several others to Burlington. Dr. Qasim Sayed and Dr. Suzy Guirguis recently located practices in Abbey Medical Centre, 1131 Nottinghill Gate, Suite 201 and can be reached at 905-815-9090. Both doctors practiced in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, before relocating to Halton, the Region stated in a press release. Several new family physicians have established practices in Burlington. To see a list of newlyrecruited doctors who are accepting patients in Halton, visit www.halton.ca/newphysicians. Halton's Physician Recruitment Program was set up in 2003 to attract family doctors, or general practitioners (GPs), to Halton and has helped bring more than 90 GPs to Halton. However, partially due to retirements, Burlington and Halton Hills remain classified as underserviced areas for GPs, according to first quarter, 2010 information on the Ministry of Health's website. Burlington requires 119 GPs, but two vacancies remain while Halton Hills has 36 of the 40 GPs it requires. Milton's classification as an underserviced area for GPs was removed by the Ministry in mid 2009. The classification of communities that are underserviced is based on 2006 census population data, however, and Milton's current population is almost 50 per cent larger than that time. Oakville has applied to be designated an underserviced area. Such a designation allows communities to recruit physicians by offering financial incentives in certain cases, as in Halton Hills, or being a place where family doctors can fulfill their Return of Service (ROS) obligations to the Province. Between 50-60 per cent of the physicians Halton has recruited in the last two years have had ROS obligations, Angela Sugden-Praysner, Halton's physician recruitment coor- dinator, said at the time of Milton's decertification. More than two-thirds of those have been internationally-educated doctors who have to complete fiveyear ROS obligations. It's not clear though whether GTA communities will be eligible to be classified underserviced for much longer. The Ministry is proposing to redesign the Province's 40-year-old Underserviced Area Program, which was set up to help communities facing chronic shortages of physicians to recruit and retain them. Last June, the Ministry released a consultation paper that recommended financial incentives be used to attract physicians to northern and rural communities, for which Halton's municipalities wouldn't qualify. A second recommendation would remove GTA communities and Ottawa from being able to access physicians graduating with ROS obligations. The Region's Physician Recruitment Program is not simply relying on underserviced designation to attract new GPs however. It actively recruits in person and through its website www.haltondoctors.ca. Last year, Halton also committed $5 million to McMaster University with the money tied to an expectation that a family health centre the school is setting up in Burlington would result in family medicine residents staying in Halton following their education. Vision ­ To be the most livable town in Canada The Town of Oakville thanks 20,000 participants who came out and enjoyed a fun and active Family Day. You help make Oakville one of the most active communities in Canada! 100 dedicated staff and volunteers for your time and energy the sponsors of Make Your Move Family Day for their generous support and enthusiasm Title sponsor Swim/Skate sponsor More than $2,660 was raised through donated pizza and beverage sales for the Town of Oakville RecConnect fund. The fund helps children in need participate in recreation programs. Special event supporters include: Oakville Public Libraries, Oakville Fire Department, Oakville Museum, Oakville Gymnastics, Sportball, Family Golf Centre, Oakville Scouts Canada, Oakville Speed Skating Club, Oakville Humane Society, Bodywise Nutritional consultant, Mary Robertson. From our family to yours THANK YOU for making Make Your Move Family Day a success! Make Your Move Oakville encourages everyone to Make their Move by enjoying the many benefits of leading an active and healthy lifestyle. Visit www.oakville.ca/makeyourmove.htm for more ways to keep active and have fun. Food & Beverage Apparel