People live in northern Ontario because we
are attracted to the opportunity to work in the unspoiled
beauty of the north, the strong sense of community and the lack
of work stress seen in the bigger cities of southern Ontario. I
moved to Sudbury in 1993 from Toronto. I never imagined we
would like it so much that we would still be here almost a
decade later.
I am a pharmacist and have enjoyed working in
a community where taking time with patients leads to a large
difference in their health. I have also worked here with some
of the best pharmacists, physicians, and nurses anywhere in
Canada.
I am leaving Sudbury because everything has
changed. All health-care professionals in Sudbury are working
substantially harder than only a few years ago. The lack of
stress seen in the past is now much higher in this city because
of practitioner shortage, longer hours, older and sicker
patients and new programs that have little to do with patient
care, but they make our lives substantially harder.
All doctors, pharmacists, and nurses can work
anywhere in Canada or the United States. We can make a
comparable or better salary than we do in Sudbury. From my
experience when professionals start to leave, slowly more and
more leave making it harder to recruit new people to the
city.
One of the main reasons I am leaving is the
initiative undertaken by Inco Ltd. to limit which pharmacist
employees or pensioners can use. Ask any of my patients and
they will tell you my primary concern has always been their
quality of health. This program does not focus on improving
patient health, it is meant to limit the quality care provided
by some of the best pharmacists in the country.
I wish my colleagues and especially my
patients all the best, I will miss each of you.
My advice for Sudbury is to embrace and work
very hard to keep the health-care professionals you have,
otherwise it will become increasingly difficult to have anymore
move to this city.
Michael Boivin
Sudbury