Some initial relief is on the way for thousands of Londoners currently without a family physician. As a result of ongoing recruitment efforts by the Mayor’s Health Care London Task Force and the Ontario Medical Group, two new family doctors will soon move to London to launch their new practices. Both doctors have signed on with the Bradley Medical Centre located at 595 Bradley Avenue and will be part of an innovative group approach to family medicine and health care delivery.
London is pleased to welcome Dr. Franklin Warsh on August 22nd and Dr. Shailendra Ziradkar on September 7th. With more than 20,000 Londoners seeking a family doctor, both Dr. Warsh and Dr. Ziradkar will hit the ground running, as they will begin seeing patients as soon as they arrive.
Although, they cannot address all primary care needs in the city, each physician will take on 1500 patients and hope to increase that number over the coming months. So, Londoners currently without a family doctor are invited to pick up patient applications at the Bradley Medical Centre pharmacy.
“This is indeed a great day for London,” says Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco. “For more than a year, our Task Force has been working hard to find creative ways to attract new family doctors and thanks to strategic alliances with the Ontario Medical Group and the London Business Laureates-– we have two new doctors and Dr. Ziradkar is our first recipient of funding through the ‘Adopt-a-Doc’ Program.
Dr. Ziradkar studied to be a family physician in India and graduated in 1983. Eventually, he and his family moved to Canada, where he underwent additional training and certification to practice in Canada, and in particular, in Ontario. For the past few years, Dr. Ziradkar has lived and practiced medicine in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Dr. Warsh was specifically recruited by the Bradley Medical Centre. He previously studied at the University of Western Ontario and McMaster University, before taking his residency at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. For the past three years, Dr. Warsh has practiced as a family doctor in Lower Sackville, NS.
Meantime, recruitment efforts by the Bradley Medical Centre and the Mayor’s Task Force will continue. And, the City of London is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Brian Tibbet, as London’s new Doctor Recruitment Specialist.
Contacts:
Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco
City of London
661-2500 ext.4920
Steve Balestrini, Vice President
Ontario Medical Group
680-2265
