From left are Emily Lewis and Julie Carriere, the final applicants accepted into the Great River Docs medical recruitment campaign.
SDG COUNTIES, Ontario - Emily Lewis and Julie Carriere, both public health nurses for the Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) at the Alexandria and Winchester locations, round out the five medical professionals SDG Counties has included in its Great River Docs medical recruitment campaign.
The program was created to address the scarcity of medical professionals across the region - a priority SDG Counties council identified as an area of focus in this term's strategic plan.
"My new role as a public health nurse at the EOHU involves the care of mothers and children," said Lewis. "I will be helping children achieve their full potential by promoting healthy child development and providing support to families in the Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) program offered at the EOHU.
"SDG Counties provided me with a change, a safe community to practice in and a chance to truly make a difference in the lives of others. I believe there is truly a feeling of closeness that is established within this community."
Carriere was similarily thrilled to be accepted in the program and looks forward to providing her expertise to the EOHU through a variety of programming.
"I am currently trained in the Rabies Team, doing risk assessments on various animal to human exposures, offering rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (rPEP) and following up on animal confinement orders," said Carriere. "I am also trained in the Watch Me Grow (WMG) program for all SDG Counties' sites, offering support for children from birth to six years of age.
"Some examples of support include growth and development, breastfeeding, nutrition, mental health, dental health, and positive parenting strategies. Furthermore, I am currently being trained in tuberculosis testing/reading and will soon be trained in other immunizations. In terms of my work location, I will be working in the Cornwall, Winchester, and Alexandria offices."
As part of the campaign, promotional videos and social media posts were made to attract health-care workers in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Attendance at job fairs and trade shows has also bolstered the campaign efforts.
The Great River Ontario Health Team, alongside the Seaway Valley Community Health Centre, Centre de santé communautaire de l’Estrie, the Glengarry Nurse Practitioner-led Clinic, and Rideau St. Lawrence Family Health Team received nearly $4 million in February from the Ontario Ministry of Health. These funds will support wages to hire additional health-care professionals.
“The Great River Docs campaign provided us with the opportunity to work directly with our health human resources experts across SDG Counties," said Tara Kirkpatrick, Manager of Economic Development for SDG Counties. "This fostered deeper collaborative partnerships and opened up conversations and opportunities to further support the health-care needs of our residents."