Lake of the Woods District Hospital is looking to strengthen its partnership with the Northern Ontario Medical School University.

President and CEO of the Hospital Ray Racette says they are in talks to make Kenora a third campus.

“We met with the people from NOSM during the summer, and we were talking about all that,” explains Racette.

“So we’re going to be a bigger training center as we go forward, and as a training center that gives an opportunity for people to know us and us to know them.”

Racette is hopeful this partnership will help ease the doctor shortage in the region.

“Creates a potential to where we might be able to recruit people by virtue of having them train here and to see what we’re doing.  That experience, while they are here, becomes really important in attracting them when they finish.”

Racette adds the Kenora District is currently under-represented at the admissions level of NOSM and is hoping they can boost those numbers, with more students coming from smaller communities like Kenora, Red Lake, Dryden and Sioux Lookout.