It was five years ago that Cornwall Hospital’s redevelopment project was completed, and thanks to features such as an expanded Emergency Department, updated universal Operating Rooms and Diagnostic Imaging which includes CT and MRI, the facility sells itself. A great team to work with, affordable housing in the community and quick access to bigger centres, are all features that have helped Cornwall Hospital’s recent physician recruitment efforts.

Shifts are now all covered in the Emergency Department with the recruitment of 5 new physicians; Dr. Keir Maharaj, Dr. Mahood Hasan, Dr. Olivier Saleh and Dr. Nathalie Codsi, all from Montreal. The fifth, Dr. Andrew Jacques is from Ottawa; they all have the additional Emergency Department specialization training.

Cornwall Hospital Foundation’s “Adopt a Medical Resident” program welcomed it’s first two students; Dr. Michael Heseltine, and Dr. Brittany Aziz. They are gaining the experience required under the Emergency Department specialization, and will then be committed to CCH and the community for an additional 2 years.

CCH has multiple recruitment strategies. They include attending fairs, posting vacancies in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, reaching out to medical schools and utilizing Health Force Ontario (a provincial marketing and recruitment agency that contributes to the planning, recruitment, retention, transition, and distribution of health practitioners in Ontario). These efforts have recently yielded 10 new physicians to CCH.

• Dr. Leslie Stephens, a general surgeon joins us from London Ontario, she has relocated to the area and is now part of the Cumberland Clinic.
• Dr. Reina Yao, an orthopaedic surgeon, joins us after being in Vancouver and London Ontario.
• Dr. Katie Lepage, came to CCH during her residency training and is now back as a hospitalist.
• Dr. Dale Peffer, a hospitalist, is relocating from Saskatoon.
• Dr. Hooman Ghomeshi, an anaesthetist comes to us from Strathroy, Ontario. Dr. Ghomeshi also works in the Emergency Department
• Dr. Sanjai Dayal, a psychiatrist from Prince Edward Island.
• Dr. Dr. Antonio DiCintio, hospitalist and family physician a new grad from Ottawa
• Dr. Maryam Yazdan is a new psychiatry graduate from Sherbrooke University
• Dr. MacArinze Ojiaku, is a new radiologist graduate from the University of Ottawa. He also did a fellowship in abdominal imaging and intervention at Harvard University in Boston
• Dr. Nima Mohammad-Shahi, an ophthalmologist currently in Boston will be joining us in November