A local group trying to recruit physician to the area hopes "if we build it, they will come."

The North East Grey Health Clinics (NEGHC) held a public information meeting at the Beaver Valley Community Centre Wednesday night. The close to 100 attendees wanted more information about the group's plans to build two family health care centres in Thornbury and Meaford, in a bid to attract doctors to the area.

"We know this: If we don't build, they won't come," said Wayne McFarlane, chair of the NEGHC fundraising committee.

McFarlane said the need for doctors in the Town of the Blue Mountains is acute and the competition for family physicians across Ontario is fierce.

"We need four doctors in the Blue Mountain right now," he said, adding that a survey conducted two years ago showed that more than 2,000 people in the Meaford Hospital catchment area were without a family physician.

McFarlane said the area's population is expanding and is expected to double in the next five to 10 years. "This whole area has become the retirement area of choice and we need to beef up our medical facilities to deal with the increased demand," he said.

To meet that demand, the NEGHC is embarking on an ambitious fundraising campaign to finance the two health centres, one in Thornbury and one in Meaford, and provide physician recruitment incentives.

The goal is to raise $4.3 million, which has also raised a few eyebrows in the area, but McFarlane said he would not apologize for the amount. He said each clinic will be between 6,500 and 7,000 square feet and will cost approximately $1.65 million. He said an additional $250,000 has been budgeted for technology and another $400,000 will be set aside to create a fund to offer incentives to doctors.

McFarlane said at first it was hard to get his head around idea of offering incentives, but he soon discovered it was happening all over the province. "Communities are saying 'come to our town and we'll give you a house or pay off your student loans,'" he said.

He explained the group wants to create a "pot of money" which could provide forgivable loans to medical school students on the condition they agree to practice in the area for a period of five years after graduation.

During a question-and-answer session, members of the audience questioned the need for two clinics and wondered why one couldn't be located in the vacant space at the Meaford Hospital.

McFarlane said they were looking to build in the Blue Mountains right away, because the need was so acute, and that the campaign in Meaford would likely start in a year's time.

He added Meaford's hospital was still under consideration, but explained it had several drawbacks. He said there are a lot of costs associated with retrofitting an older building and Ministry of Health regulations - brought in in the wake of the SARS epidemic - would require the area be sealed off from the hospital and a separate heating and ventilation system be constructed.

It was also noted that with the expected increase in population, the hospital might soon need to re-open some of the beds in closed back in the 1990s.

The committee is already negotiating with a developer for its preferred site in Thornbury, located on a vacant lot between TIGS and the Thornbury Cidery on Highway 26. McFarlane said a site selection committee for Meaford would be formed in the coming year.

"We want to make sure our citizens have continued access to primary health care," he said, adding a family health care centre, with a group of doctors working co-operatively under one roof, is the best way to achieve that goal.

"When you put a clinic together, you put all records into one system and all doctors have access to it so patients can have seamless care even if their doctor is away on holidays," he said, adding that a group of doctors working together in a clinic could offer staggered hours and provide better after-hours access for patients.

McFarlane also noted that the Thornbury Health Clinic, operated by Dr. Tim Remillard  and Dr. Nathalie Sauriol, is at capacity. "Even if we found another doctor to come here, there would be nowhere for them to practice," he said.