Physician and Healthcare Professional Recruiting

The City of Kenora participates on the All Nations Health Partners Steering Committee, along with Indigenous, municipal, and health care organizations.

The Steering Committee has three priorities:

• patient mobility
• health care professional recruitment and retention
• long-term planning for health care service delivery.

The strongest communities are built with partnerships among community members and healthcare organizations. In the Kenora area, the All Nations Health Partners was created with the intent to recruit and retain physicians and healthcare professionals.

Collaboration and partnership between Kenora Chiefs Advisory, Lake of the Woods District Hospital, Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe'iyewigamig (WNHAC), City of Kenora, Sunset Country Family Health Team and Lake of the Woods Health Science Campus fully support the position of recruitment and retention in our community. 

The All Nations Hospital Project has been approved to move to Phase 2 for detailed design.

The Sunset Country Family Health Team is an approach to primary health care that brings together Family Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Dieticians, Registered Practical Nurses, Social Workers, Chiropodists, Pharmacists, Occupational Therapists, and other professionals to coordinate the highest possible quality of care for the patient.

Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe'iyewigamig (WNHAC) is an Indigenous Primary Health Care Organization serving the urban First Nation, Inuit, and Metis (FNIM) populations in Kenora as well as the ten area First Nation communities. WNHAC also serves the FNIM population in Dryden, as well as three Dryden-area First Nations (Migisi Sagaihigan, Wabauskang, and Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation) along with the Metis members of Wesawkwete – Zone 1 in the Town of Wabigoon. Two of the Kenora area communities (Animakee Wa Zhing 37 and Northwest Angle 33) have four community sites in total, with two remote points of service that are only accessible by water in summer or by ice road in the winter months. WNHAC also serves the rural community of Minaki. WNHACs catchment area encompasses a large geographic area with 18 points of service in total.

WNHAC provides comprehensive primary health care through an inter-professional, team-based model of care. Services include traditional and contemporary health care encompassing mind, body and spirit. Physicians work closely with nurse practitioners and other team members including cultural coordinators, clinic nurse/care coordinators, community health and home care nurses, diabetes clinicians, dieticians, mental health clinicians, and health promoters to provide wholistic care while also providing specialty services such as Supportive Housing, Hostel, and Indigenous Midwifery.

The Lake of the Woods District Hospital (LWDH) is a full-service 77-bed fully accredited community teaching hospital serving the population of the Kenora area totalling approximately 30,000 permanent residents. The 12-bed Emergency Department has two fully equipped resuscitation rooms including ED ultrasound and difficult airway equipment. The 3-suite OR is staffed with three General Surgeons and four GP-Anesthetists and highly skilled OR staff. The 17-bed Schedule 1 facility has a dynamic team with on-site Psychiatrist and the 4-bed ICU is staffed with on-site General Internist and is fully supported with on-site Respiratory Therapist. LWDH has a Diagnostic Centre of Excellence with on-site MRI, CT scanner, 24/7 laboratory. Our on-site helipad and local ORNGE base allow for rapid transport of patients to tertiary centres.

Our local physician education group (Lake of the Woods Health Science Campus) is comprised of  local physicians who, as Northern Ontario School of Medicine University (NOSM U) Faculty, participate in clinical training of medical students and residents in the Kenora area. We pride ourselves on providing our learners with exceptional “hands-on” clinical opportunities and offer a tremendous range of practice profiles to choose from when matching learners with preceptors. We offer comprehensive and diverse electives in General Surgery, Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, and Family Medicine as well as longitudinal residency spots through the NOSM U Rural Residency Program. NOSM U students in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, and speech language pathology also have the opportunity to complete practical training in Kenora with acclaimed preceptors. 

Kenora Chiefs Advisory (KCA) is committed and dedicated to providing culturally appropriate health and social services which address the needs and enhance the well being and capacity of community members in our affiliated First Nations. KCA develops and responds to the needs of the clients and communities as determined by the Chiefs (Board of Directors), Elders (Council) and community Health Directors resulting in delivery of culturally safe programs and services in the field of health, education, social services – directly in the community. KCA is committed to building partnerships with local and regional agencies, and governments, to ensure clients have access to a continuum of services and also to meet the needs of the communities.

Have you ever paddled to work or covered on-call from the beach? With a vibrant downtown art and music scene; excellent restaurants to suit any appetite; a year-round recreation centre offering swimming, fitness, arena, tennis, basketball, baseball and walking track; community nature and urban hiking trails; rowing; downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and not to mention a breathtaking location on beautiful Lake of the Woods, a pristine lake with over 14,000 islands there are many reasons to choose Kenora, Ontario as a community to live and work! Kenora Ontario, originally named Rat Portage, is home to over 30,000 full-time residents with a summer population reaching close to 70,000. This is a rural community with lots of amenities only two hours from the bustling metropolis of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Visit us today and see for yourself all that our community has to offer!