Its estimated 20,000 people across Kitchener-Waterloo don't have a family doctor. Experts say the Region needs at least 14 new doctors to deal with the shortfall.

In the next five years it`s expected the short fall will get worse, a quarter of practising physicians’ plant to retire.

Doctor Joseph Lee is a member of the Board of Directors for the Research Institute for Aging, Schlegel Health-University of Waterloo. He says graduates tend to avoid certain areas of specialty if the pay is lower.

“One of the barriers for graduates going into geriatrics previously has been the relatively low pay in those areas”

According to Doctor Lee, the same thing applies to psychiatry, pediatrics and family medicine.

He says doctor demographics have changed. There are now more women and more doctors who work regular hours.

The vice president for the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, Art Sinclair says, the shortage goes far beyond just doctors.

“Not only do we have a shortage of doctors, we have shortage of nurses, we have shortage of techs, and this is similar to most communities, it’s not just doctors its health care professionals.”

While enrollment is up, it takes on average 10 years to complete medical school and residency.

It's expected that over the next 20 years, the population in Kitchener and Waterloo will grow by 200,000 people.

There are plans for a medical centre to open in Waterloo on the Boardwalk, this coming January. The clinic would add 25 new doctors to the area.

The project manager for the Medical Centre at the Boardwalk, Cynthia Voisin says, so far 18 pending offers are out. However a ministry requirement for doctors to be part of a 'group' has made it harder to recruit.

“I've just put it in some of the leases condition for ministry approval. But that's something I've never had to make a concession in there.”

Voisin says overall there's been a lot of interest from new grads and those closer to retirement.

It's expected that facilities like the Boardwalk centre will help ease the doctor shortfall, but in general officials say there are significant challenges ahead for the health care system.

The fastest growing demographic in Canada is 60 and over and Doctor Lee says there aren`t enough geriatricians to deal with the growing number of seniors.

“Canada has traditionally relied on a lot of foreign trained docs to staff hospitals and clinics and those areas at some point will be less because there’s increased demand worldwide “says Lee.