Some Ontario hospitals offering hefty incentives for locums amid doctor shortage

As a travelling physician in northern Ontario, Dannica Switzer is acutely aware of the health-care crisis in underserved communities.

“It's sad to see how much worse things can get,” said Switzer, who works as a locum, filling roles on a temporary basis in rural or remote areas.

Switzer has been in high demand since returning to locum work after quitting her family practice in Wawa, Ont., due to burnout more than two years ago.

Rural and northern Ontario hospitals are competing to recruit locums by offering hefty financial incentives amid a severe shortage of doctors that has plagued the health-care system. The hospitals are vying for doctors from a relatively small pool of locums, often as a way to prevent emergency department closures that have become more common in recent years.

“Bu