KHSC welcomes more than 20 physicians to Kingston

Over two dozen physicians have recently joined the team at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC) following a campaign to recruit highly trained doctors and specialist.

The group of doctors are “all trained in various areas of medical specialities,” according to KHSC, and the influx of physicians is the result of a multi-year recruitment campaign carried out by KHSC, Queen’s University and the Southeastern Academic Medical Organization (SEAMO). That campaign aimed to bring new physicians to care for patients and to help reduce wait times to see specialists in Kingston and the region. Some of the new physicians will also be involved in innovative health research projects, according to those with KHSC.

“KHSC worked with the team at SEAMO, to submit business cases to the Ministry of

Health and Long-Term Care to recruit physicians to fill new positions over a three-year period. In fact, so strong were the business cases that all were approved,” said KHSC Chief of Staff Dr. Michael Fitzpatrick.

“Our goal was to enrich the clinical and academic services that we offer for our patients and families and to help reduce the wait-times to see specialists in our region.”

The recruits come from locations across Canada and around the world, with some moving from as far away as Europe and the Middle East. The new-to-Kingston doctors have backgrounds in a variety of areas of expertise, including:

• Dermatology
• Neurology
• Cardiology
• Cardiac Surgery
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology
• Hematology
• Nephrology
• Pediatrics
• Pediatric Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Thoracic Surgery
• Respirology

Two of the new recruits, Drs. Sonja Molin and Thomas Herzinger, wife and husband dermatologists who moved from Munich, Germany, are helping to address an area of specialty that Kingston lack. According to KHSC, Dermatology has long been an area of targeted growth as patients in the past sometimes had to be referred to doctors in Toronto or Ottawa.

“It’s been a very positive experience moving to Canada,” said Molin. “We were attracted to Kingston because we were excited by the opportunity to help shape a growing department. We have been impressed by the quality of life in Kingston as well as how warmly we have been welcomed by our patients and colleagues.”

Another recent recruit, thoracic and general surgeon Dr. Wiley Chung, said he knew he was interested in moving to Kingston as soon as he saw a position open up at KHSC and Queen’s.

“I wanted to work in an environment where I could offer specialized and innovative care, while being a part of a highly respected medical school where I can teach and mentor the next generation of physicians,” said Chung.

KHSC plans to continue growing their team of doctors, and is already working with SEAMO and Queens on their next three-year recruitment plan.

“We’ve seen tremendous momentum following the integration of KGH and Hotel Dieu to create Kingston Health Sciences Centre,” said Fitzpatrick.

“As one of the few fully fledged academic health sciences centres in the province, and working closely with colleagues in SEAMO, we’re becoming a very desirable destination for academic physicians, which is great news because we can continue to grow our academic and clinical services for the patients and families of southeastern Ontario.”