A member of the Wingham Physician Recruitment Board says there are some flaws in the way the ministry designates areas of high physician need.
Jennifer Miltenburg attended last week's public meeting hosted by the South West Local Health Integration Network to ask why Wingham was not identified as an area of high physician need, but Huron-Kinloss and South Bruce, two areas within the Wingham catchment area, are.
Miltenburg points out there are currently eight physicians working out of the Wingham hospital but they also go to Teeswater and Lucknow, where there are no physicians, and look after 1,900 un-rostered patients in the Amish community.
"When you look at the geography and the number of Amish who actually use the service and where the doctors are, it really doesn't make sense that Wingham wasn't identified," says Miltenburg.
She says two of those doctors are considering retirement. She was told the areas are drawn municipal lines rather than catchment areas.
LHIN CEO Michael Barrett says the inequities in the system have been pointed out to the ministry and they are looking at how they can improve the system.
