Collingwood, ON [14 April 2025] – Collingwood now has another new family doctor in town thanks to a new council-funded program that helps bring doctors to Collingwood. Welcome, Dr. David Beisel!
On December 6, 2023, Collingwood Council allocated $14,000 each year for five years to help recruit doctors, totalling up to $70,000. One important rule is that the new doctor must mainly see patients from Collingwood while receiving this support. The doctor also needs to take on at least 900 patients within the first 18 months to help those who need care.
“In October 2024, we announced that Collingwood welcomed Dr. Ladda, the first doctor who took Collingwood up on its offer to support his transition to opening a family medicine practice in Collingwood, through Council’s recruitment funding initiative,” says Mayor Yvonne Hamlin. “We are so pleased to welcome a second doctor, Dr. Beisel, through this initiative to better meet the medical needs of Collingwood residents.”
“One thing we have discovered through this initiative is that the Health System has a backlog of Collingwood residents on waiting lists for a family doctor. Dr. Beisel has already taken on almost 650 patients, 85% of which have a Collingwood address. I’m pleased Collingwood residents are being provided with more opportunities to get the health care they need as Collingwood continues to recruit more doctors to town.”
“Patients deserve a family doctor who will walk with them through all phases of their life. Comprehensive family medicine is my passion, and I am grateful for this opportunity to provide that to as many Collingwood residents as I can,” says Dr. Beisel.
About Dr. Besisel
I am originally from Owen Sound. I worked in the arts sector in Toronto for several years before transitioning to health care. I studied in Hamilton at McMaster’s Michael G De Groote School of Medicine. I trained in various rural communities across Canada, completed my residency in Collingwood, specializing in Family Medicine through McMaster Rural Family Medicine in association with ROMP. Since graduating, I have worked as a locum physician in Manitoulin, Kirkland Lake, Owen Sound, and Yellowknife, NWT, and in many offices around South Georgian Bay. I do a comprehensive family practice that includes prenatal, newborn, adolescence, adult and elderly populations. I do consultations for medical assistance in dying (which interestingly is only possible in our region because local family doctors take this role on outside of their practices). I also am an associate physician at CGMH with their hospitalist program, attending to acute patients admitted to the hospital and ICU. I am also an Associate Professor with the McMaster Department of Rural Family Medicine as the Director of Faculty Development (i.e. supporting doctors who are training new doctors).
Collingwood is working with other local leaders to address the shortage of family doctors. The Town is part of the South Georgian Bay Regional Mayors’ and CAOs’ Forum, which recently talked to the Ministry of Health about this problem. Collingwood is also part of a team with other towns to recruit doctors, led by the South Georgian Bay Ontario Health Team. Having local health care is very important for our community.
“Family doctors in Ontario face many challenges and the harsh reality is that I would not be able to afford to start a practice without this support of the Town of Collingwood and my partners at Collingwood Medical Centre,” says Dr. Beisel. “Of the places I’ve worked in Ontario, the Collingwood Hospital and Georgian Bay Family Health Team are a crown jewel when it comes to teamwork and patient care. “I am lucky to be joining such comprehensive and compassionate organizations.”
If you don’t have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, sign up for a local waitlist through the South Georgian Bay Ontario Health Team at www.southgeorgianbayoht.ca/community-wellness. If you need non-emergency care, you can see a nurse practitioner at the Shoreline Health Clinic in the Wasaga Beach Medical Clinic. You can also visit the After-Hours Clinics in Wasaga Beach (705-422-4019) or Collingwood (705-445-9711) for help.
Residents without a family doctor in Ontario who need non-emergent care can book an appointment with a nurse practitioner at the Shoreline Health Clinic in the Wasaga Beach Medical Clinic. All residents who need non-emergent care can also access Walk-In care at the After-Hours Clinic at the Wasaga Beach Medical Clinic (705-422-4019) or the Collingwood After-Hours Clinic (705-445-9711).
