A local physician says recruiting doctors during a pandemic has been interesting to say the least.
Dr. Jeremy Hillyard, medical site lead for St. Martha’s Hospital, said early on there was a lot of
interest from physicians in other provinces. Suggesting the reason may have been the low COVID numbers in the province at the time, Hillyard said they also weren’t able to invite potential recruits for site visits because of travel restrictions. Despite that obstacle, he said people started working at the hospital despite never having being there before.
Since then, Hillyard said the level of interest returned to normal and they can now have site visits. They are focusing their recruitment efforts in the areas of family medicine and internal medicine.
As for needs, Hillyard said recruiters are looking to fill four or five full time equivalent positions, adding there is also a need in the community for office physician work.