About Us
North East Grey Health Clinics Inc. (NEGHCI) was formed to help the community respond to our current physician shortage and improve access to health care by building Community Family Health Centres in The Town of The Blue Mountains and Meaford.
NEGHCI is made up of people from the Community Physician Recruitment Committee who realized that something extra was required to attract physicians to our area.
Meaford Hospital, a medical gem in our community, can only function with the support of sufficient numbers of Primary Care Family Physicians. Simple put, this area does not have sufficient physicians, two doctors retired in 2007 and the population is expected to double in this area in the next 5-10 years.
The catchment area served by the Meaford General Hospital, which includes the Town of the Blue Mountains and Meaford, has been deemed as Under-serviced by four Physicians by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
The committee has tried unsuccessfully for several years to attract new family doctors. Time and again, we have heard the message that the absence of a Community Family Health Care Centre virtually guarantees that we will not be able to recruit new doctors. The majority of New Primary Care Family Physicians want to practice with colleagues in a health centre without having to be concerned about being landlords, accountants or facility managers.
Good health and access to health care in our community is attainable by working together on this challenge. Without health centres, our communities will not be served by sufficient doctors to keep our hospital going.
A major initiative to build community family health care centres in TBM and Meaford has started. To date, we have raised over 75% of the funds required for the Thornbury health centre and the construction process has begun. As soon as the first health centre is up and operational, work will begin on the second health centre. The second centre, to be located in Meaford, should be ready to attract new doctors just when retirement begins to reduce the number of Meaford-based physicians.
