Recruiting doctors at top of chamber president's to-do list

Published Friday June 4th, 2010
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By ALEXANDRA DAVIS
davis.alexandra@dailygleaner.com

Mike Toole says he's looking forward to tackling a number of major issues as president of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce.

Fredericton Chamber of Commerce president Mike Toole, left, gives a speech as chamber CEO Susan Holt, centre, and past president Lee Winchester look on at the chamber’s reception Thursday night.

Toole, a sales manager for Wilson Insurance Ltd., officially took over the role at the chamber's annual general meeting Thursday.

Afterward, at a president's reception at the York Sunbury Museum, Toole said one of the issues he hopes to focus on is physician recruitment and retention.

"We face a crisis here in Fredericton," he said. "Fredericton rates well below the national and provincial figures for the number of physicians per capita. It's estimated that close to 26,000 people in the capital region will be without a physician by 2014. This is an alarming state of affairs and a detriment to economic growth."

He said the chamber's physician recruitment committee will be working diligently toward finding solutions to the problem.

Toole said that by communicating better with government and community leaders, and by coming up with incentives to attract physicians, more doctors will be interested in coming to live and work in Fredericton.

He said he also wants to focus on increasing the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce's membership, which has declined in recent years.

"It's a challenge to recruit new members," Toole said. "I think we have to be proactive about going out and visiting potential members and outlining the value we can bring with the membership.

"We can offer a number of benefits that they may not be aware of. We have a health plan, there are credit card and banking services and payroll services they can take advantage of. There are a lot of opportunities for members."

He said he's especially looking forward to collaborating with chamber and board members to create a strategic plan.

"We have a new group of people coming on the board with fresh new ideas, so I really hope they, as well as our members, will be able to offer their input to help shape out our future," he said.

Past president Lee Winchester said he's proud of what the chamber has accomplished in the past year. He said he feels the organization has done a good job of handling challenging situations, from the economic recession to the proposed NB Power deal.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my year as president, and I hope truly that my efforts have helped contribute to my community in a positive way," Winchester said.

"I've been really proud of what the chamber has done."

Returning board members on the chamber's executive include: Andrew Steeves of ADI as first vice-president; Janice McKay of Contract Management Services as second vice-president; Lee Winchester of the Bank of Montreal as past president; Nick McCarthy of Riverview Ford Lincoln as treasurer; and Andy Power of Stantec Consulting and K. Chipp McCrea of Matthews McCrea Elliott will serve as executive committee members.

New directors who joined the chamber's board Thursday are: Grant Aylesworth of Ocean Valley Associates Consulting Ltd.; Nancy Cook of The Daily Gleaner; Dan Coleman of the University of New Brunswick; Stephen Hill of Cox & Palmer; Mark MacKenzie of Green Imaging Technologies Inc.; and Deryl Armstrong of Barrington Consulting Group Inc.

Returning directors standing for the board are: Frank Flanagan or the City of Fredericton; Mary Goggin of Accreon; Chris Johnston of Bulletproof Solutions Inc.; Kathy Russell of the Fredericton YMCA; John Robison of Skill Search Recruiting; and John Crossley of Meritus University.