Lady Minto Hospital
Cochrane
We would like to sincerely thank those who have reached out with questions and concerns following recent social media discussions regarding physician recruitment. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify the facts and provide accurate information to address any misconceptions.
First, it is important to understand that physicians are not employees of the Hospital, and the medical clinic operates independently as a separate business. Physicians are independent contractors who practice in their respective areas of expertise. To provide care within the Hospital, they must apply for privileges and undergo a rigorous credentialing process. Depending on the scope of those privileges, they may provide care to inpatients on the hospital ward, order diagnostic tests, work in the emergency department, and participate in other hospital-based services.
Physicians credentialed for emergency medicine sign contracts with the Ministry of Health to provide emergency care. Separately, those practicing in primary care (i.e., family medicine at the medical clinic) enter into different Ministry contracts to deliver those services. Both contract types have a limited number of positions, meaning that recruitment opportunities depend on the availability of funded roles.
When a physician is qualified to work in both emergency and primary care—and when vacancies exist in both contracts—the Hospital collaborates with the medical clinic and the Town of Cochrane to support recruitment efforts. A recent success from such collaboration is the recruitment of Dr. Mona Mohammed, who will soon be joining the emergency department’s on-call roster. Her addition brings the Hospital’s emergency physician coverage to full capacity—a positive development for the community.
We take this opportunity to express our appreciation to this team of physicians who continue to provide high-quality emergency and hospitalist care. Thanks to their dedication, Cochrane has not experienced an emergency department closure, in contrast with many other towns including neighbouring communities.
With respect to primary care, the Hospital fully acknowledges the shortage of family physicians in the community and agrees that this is a critical need. We support and commend the Town of Cochrane and Council for their ongoing efforts to recruit family doctors. While the Hospital does not have the authority to hire primary care physicians or manage their contracts, we remain committed to supporting these efforts wherever possible.
To clarify, the Hospital has not placed any barriers on primary care recruitment. On the contrary, we have demonstrated flexibility, including adjustments to the emergency department schedule to accommodate new physicians, as was done to welcome Dr. Mohammed. We also do not deny hospital privileges to primary care physicians.
It is important to note that Hospital funding cannot be used for primary care recruitment as per provincial regulations. However, the Hospital does own and maintain the building that houses the medical clinic. This allows for significantly reduced overhead costs, which we hope will continue to help attract primary care physicians to the community.
Some social media comments appear to place responsibility on the Hospital for not recruiting emergency physicians when there are no available positions, and for not recruiting family doctors, despite the Hospital having no mandate or authority in that domain. We want to assure the public that physician recruitment remains a top priority, and that we are always open to collaboration with our partners when there is a shared need for additional care providers.
Our collective focus remains on ensuring high-quality care and building a strong, sustainable healthcare team for the residents of Cochrane.
To address the inquiry regarding municipal representation, please note that public hospitals in Ontario are independent corporations governed by each corporation’s Board of Directors who are accountable to the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health. Like many other public hospitals, MICs has been working towards adopting a “skills based board” for over 10 years now, and the only remaining appointed member is that of the municipal representative. The MICs Board is amending its Corporate By-Laws to replace this last appointed position with an elected position. This simply means that any member from the public, including council members, will have an equal opportunity to apply to the Board. This is effective October 2026, and the current Board, including councillors, will remain in place until then. It should also be noted that the MICs Board meetings are open to the public and anyone can attend.
Paul Chatelain, MICs Chief Executive Officer
Denis Clement, Lady Minto Hospital Board Chair
Dr. Joey Tremblay, MICs Chief of Staff
