Past Communiqués
Update to Summit North Participants – September 13, 2018
On behalf of the Northern Physician Resources Task Force, we would like to thank you again for your participation in last January’s “Summit North: Building a Flourishing Physician Workforce”, where we brought together over 125 stakeholders from across Northern Ontario, where participants spent the day identifying and gathering innovative ideas and strategies that could be considered to help solve ongoing challenges with physician recruitment and retention in the North.
Following Summit North, a decision was made to create a multi-stakeholder task force. The Northern Physician Resources Task Force (NPRTF), co-chaired by both the North West Local Health Integration Network and the North East Local Health Integration Network, was established to ensure that a summary report is finalized and that those actions from the Summit are realized and momentum is sustained across Northern Ontario.
We also recognize that it is critical to align our efforts with those of previous related initiatives. To help support the work of the task force, the NPRTF retained a consultant, Mr. Jim Whaley. Mr. Whaley’s work has included mapping out proposed initiatives and ideas from Summit North to help create a “made in the North” Action Plan.
We are excited to provide you with an update on our progress so far. The NPRTF has met on several occasions working to draft and finalize the Summary Report and Action Plan. In order to disseminate information and the reports to you and others, we have created a platform on the Northern Ontario School of Medicine’s website.
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to visit our new website www.nosm.ca/nprtf to view the final Summary Report, as well as other documents related to Summit North and the NPRTF’s work. The Action Plan is just being finalized and will be posted to this website soon.
We anticipate organizing a subsequent event, Summit North 2.0, where we will again bring Northern stakeholders together for a day to focus on the Action Plan’s implementation. Stay tuned for more information on this possible gathering.
Thank you again for participating in Summit North. Your valuable contribution to this day has jump-started the path we are on today towards building a flourishing physician workforce.
Sincerely,
Co-Chairs, Northern Physician Resources Task Force,
Dr. Sarah Newbery Dr. Paul Preston
Co-VP, Clinical Services VP, Clinical Services
North West Local Health Integration Network North East Local Health Integration Network
Update to Summit North Participants – December 11, 2018
Dear Summit North Participants:
On January 25, 2018, Summit North initiated an important conversation about how we recruit and retain physicians to meet the needs of the communities across Northern Ontario with a particular focus on the needs of rural communities.
Part of the commitment of Summit North was to convene a task force – the Northern Physician Resources Task Force (NPRTF) – that would advance the recommendations that came forward through that event.
We are pleased to provide you with an update on our work so far. Since Summit North, the NPRTF has:
- been created with representation from key organizations and community based stakeholder groups;
- developed and finalized a Summary Report on Summit North;
- created a website www.nosm.ca/nprtf where materials from Summit North, including task force reports, are hosted;
- worked to finalize the Action Plan to guide our shared activities as the NPRTF moves forward;
- begun sharing among the NPRTF members the work each organization has initiated to make progress on recruitment and retention initiatives in Northern Ontario.
It is with great pleasure that we invite you to visit our website to view the final Action Plan at: https://www.nosm.ca/our-community/nprtf/physician-resources-action-plan-for-northern-ontario/
The NPRTF has initiated a small sub-group to think about how best to reconnect with Summit North participants to share more fully the work being done on the Action Plan items, and to share and celebrate successes to date…stay tuned for more information on Summit North 2.0.
Next month, we will be presenting an update on the Action Plan and work of the Task Force at an upcoming event being planned by the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) entitled: Remote Rural Workforce Stability Forum to be held on January 15, 2019. The forum will present NOSM’s findings from work it has been doing in Nunavut to enhance physician retention and recruitment through initiatives that span the career pathway from high school health careers camp to residency training to physician professional development and improved physician contracting models. Many of the findings of the work in Nunavut are relevant in supporting the work of the NPRTF. This will be an online event and can be accessed by Webcast. For more details on this forum, please refer to the attached document.
Wishing you a joyous holiday season and a very happy new year!
Sincerely,
Co-Chairs, Northern Physician Resources Task Force
Dr. Sarah Newbery Dr. Paul Preston
Co-VP, Clinical Services VP, Clinical Services
North West Local Health Integration Network North East Local Health Integration Network
Update to Summit North Participants – June 5, 2019
Dear Summit North Participants,
We are writing in follow up to your participation in the Summit North event held in Thunder Bay 2018. Since that time, much work has been undertaken to build on the ideas that you shared with us and to continue to support physician recruitment and retention in our rural communities.
With this email we are sharing a very brief summary of the many steps that have been taken to shift the rural physician landscape. Embedded within the document attached you will find links to the Northern Physician Resources Task Force website which houses documents from Summit North, the Action Plan that continues to guide the work of the task force and some additional resources which may be of interest.
We anticipate a further communication to you in the fall of this year, and we will begin planning for Summit North 2.0 for early in 2020.
Thank you for your participation in Summit North 1.0 – you have been part of getting this work off the ground! Thank you also for the work that you do within your own community, health sector and team to support the development of a “flourishing” physician work force.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sarah Newbery & Dr. Paul Preston
Co-Chairs, Northern Physician Resources Task Force