Health centre looking to add new doctor by end of January

By Max Reid and Kyle Ellington

BELLEVILLE – Belleville city council is looking to add a new family doctor to the Belleville Quinte West Community Health Centre by the end of the month under the city’s family physician recruitment program.

Council will vote on whether to sign Dr. Kira Abelsohn onto the program on Monday. If approved, Abelsohn will receive an incentive in the form of a $150,000 grant over six years to practice in the Bay of Quinte region, in exchange for a five-year commitment to working in the area.  

Since 2007, when the program began, 37 new doctors have been hired in the community including an oncologist, dermatologist, cardiologist, and pediatrician. Abelsohn will operate as a typical family physician and will take on patients from a waiting list that exceeds over 2,000 residents.