But Do We Have a Council With the Courage and Risk Tolerance to Think Outside the Box?

The family doctor shortage in Owen Sound has reached a critical point. With approximately 4,664 residents seeking a family doctor as of March 2023, and predictions that the city will require 12 new physicians over the next three years, Owen Sound faces a healthcare crisis that demands innovative solutions. Traditional recruitment methods have proven insufficient, leaving thousands of residents without access to primary care. However, an unprecedented initiative in Colwood, British Columbia offers a compelling blueprint for how municipalities can take control of their healthcare destiny.

The Colwood Model

Colwood, a suburban community near Victoria, has pioneered Canada's first municipally-operated family doctor clinic where physicians are hired as direct municipal employees. Under Mayor Doug Kobayashi's leadership, the Colwood Medical Clinic operates on a transformative principle: doctors should focus on medicine, not business administration.

Physicians receive full municipal employee benefits including comprehensive medical coverage, paid vacation, maternity leave, and defined pensions. Crucially, they are freed from administrative and financial burdens that typically consume hours of a family doctor's day. The city handles all clinic administration, billing, and facility operations.

The financial structure is innovative yet sustainable. While doctors are paid as city employees, operations are funded through provincial revenues. When a doctor sees a patient, the city bills the provincial Ministry of Health, collects payment, and uses those funds for salaries and clinic costs. Colwood allocated up to $500,000 to establish the clinic, but Mayor Kobayashi reports it operates revenue-neutral with proper scheduling, creating no burden on taxpayers.

Why It Works

The traditional model of family medicine has become unsustainable. Doctors operating as independent contractors must manage patient care alongside accounting, human resources, lease negotiations, and countless business responsibilities. This administrative burden, combined with financial risks, has driven many physicians toward hospital-based work or specialized practices.

Dr. Cassandra Stiller-Moldovan relocated from London, Ontario specifically because Colwood's model appealed to her professional priorities. She represents physicians who value work-life balance, job security, and practicing medicine without business stress. Each physician serves approximately 1,250 patients, with the city aiming to hire eight doctors within five years. This manageable roster size and supportive team environment encourages long-term community commitment.

Owen Sound's Urgent Need

Owen Sound's shortage mirrors Colwood's challenges but with greater urgency. In Grey County, 31,000 of 164,000 residents lack a family doctor. The crisis affects all demographics, from elderly patients like 81-year-old Hugh Greenwood, who spent nearly a year calling clinics within a two-hour drive, to young families without primary care access.

Without family doctors, residents resort to emergency rooms for routine care, creating unsustainable pressure on hospitals. At the January 2025 Rural Ontario Municipal Association conference, Owen Sound representatives explicitly cited the physician shortage's link to emergency room pressures when requesting provincial support.

Current efforts remain inadequate. The city's Physician Recruitment Reserve holds just $15,975. Despite regional task forces and partnerships with programs like McMaster Rural Family Practice Residency, Owen Sound loses doctors to retirement faster than it recruits replacements. Three local physicians will retire in the next four to five years, deepening the crisis.

The Case for Owen Sound

Adopting Colwood's model would position Owen Sound as a healthcare innovation leader while addressing its immediate crisis. The model aligns with the alternative delivery approach the city recognized when requesting provincial support for a doctor-led nurse practitioner clinic at the 2025 ROMA conference.

Financial feasibility is particularly compelling. Like Colwood, Owen Sound wouldn't need to increase taxes. The provincial billing system remains unchanged; the city would simply act as an intermediary. The initial investment could be viewed as infrastructure spending that pays dividends in improved public health and reduced emergency costs.

Owen Sound possesses several advantages. As a regional hub, a municipal clinic could have broader impact. Existing relationships with the Owen Sound Family Health Team and local hospitals provide a foundation for collaboration. The community has demonstrated commitment to physician recruitment through decades of task force work.

Colwood's pilot has proven the model's viability, removing uncertainty. Other municipalities, including Kamloops and Orillia, have studied the model with interest. Owen Sound could be among the first Ontario cities to implement this approach, potentially accessing provincial support as a demonstration project.

Owen Sound stands at a crossroads.  Colwood Mayor Kobayashi was initially called "crazy" for proposing municipal employment of doctors. Now municipalities across Canada seek to learn from Colwood's success. The 4,664 Owen Sound residents seeking a family doctor cannot wait for traditional solutions. The Colwood model offers a roadmap where every resident has access to a family doctor, where physicians practice medicine without administrative burden, and where municipal government demonstrates commitment to citizen well-being in the most fundamental way possible.   (View Colwood's Job Posting)

The question is not whether Owen Sound can afford to adopt this model
it's whether the city can afford not to.