When you support Grand River Hospital Foundation, your impact reaches far beyond Grand River Hospital. Our health system is interconnected in so many ways, so coming together in support of local health and wellness as a whole is an important part of our vision for a world class health system right here.

Grand River Hospital Foundation is a sponsor of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce’s Physician Recruitment Program, and with the help and support of our community and their sponsors, the program successfully recruited 14 family physicians over past year who have made full time, part time and locum practice commitments in Kitchener-Waterloo.

As our population continues to grow and more practising physicians plan their retirement, recruiting and retaining new physicians for our community is key. Beyond the need to keep up with demand, family medicine is a critical aspect of health care that has a direct impact both on our hospitals and the people who live and work in our community.

Access to primary care helps our community stay healthy. Family physicians create long-term relationships with their patients, know their patients’ health history and can help them navigate the health system. They also act a central point of access for so many critical medical and specialist services, most of which require a physician’s referral, making their care and support key.

More access to primary care also benefits our local hospitals, helping to decrease the number of emergency room visits by creating opportunities to address health concerns before they become urgent and providing patients with more avenues to access care—without access to a family doctor, many turn to emergency rooms and local hospitals for care simply because they have nowhere else to go.

Ultimately, we know the goal for world class extends far beyond the walls of Grand River Hospital, and we can’t get there alone; it will take all of us coming together, both as individuals and organizations, to support our health system as whole to make this a reality for our community. So whether they work in our local hospitals or in family practice, additional physicians only bolster our local health care system, and the collaborative effort of those involved in supporting the Physician Recruitment Program brings us just a little closer to creating our vision for a world class health system right here.

To learn more about the Physician Recruitment Program, visit kwphysicians.com