A week's worth of hockey wrapped up Saturday, all in support of the Sault's doctors of tomorrow.
A total of 24 teams of past and present Algoma Steel employees took part in the tournament called Bring a Doctor Home.
Funds raised from pledges, sponsors and attendance go to a Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) University bursary that helps students from Sault Ste. Marie afford medical school.
Doctor Sarita Verma, the dean and CEO of NOSM University said the hundreds that take part are a show of how highly the community values its doctors.
“When you want to recruit and retain physicians and you’re in a competitive market these days, the community support is critical,” said Verma.
Frank DeMarco, the tournament’s director, told CTV News that having doctors in the Sault, from the Sault is a huge draw for the event.
“Being a father and having my children in town it’s kind of nice to know that we have these opportunities, whether it’s in the industry field or the medical field,” said DeMarco.
The Bring a Doctor Home Tournament is the highlight of the winter, said Mark Nogalo, who is Algoma Steel’s vice president of strategic transformation.
“I’ve been in the tournament since it started about 16 years ago, played every year. It’s an absolute blast,” Nogalo said.
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Steph Luciani works in human resources for the Algoma Steel and helped organize the women's bracket of the tournament.
“I find it really exciting playing against our Algoma Steel employees. I’ve grown up playing hockey my whole life, it was great to get a bunch of girls from different levels all together playing. Got to play with some friends and colleagues so it was a lot of fun.”
Local doctors also took part in the event.
Doctor Jeff Jonusaitis said they know first hand how necessary recruiting more doctors to the Sault-area is and they wanted to do their part in making it happen.
“If we can help support that by playing and donating, we’re happy to do that because we want to bring some doctors to the Sault and come work with us,” said Jonusaitis.
Up to three NOSM University students are eligible for the bursary.
Verma said they can receive more than $5,000 for their education.
“Every student gets some kind of kind of financial support. They come from the north, they’re not rich and they come with heavy debt burdens,” said Verma.
“Some of them graduate with a quarter of a million dollars in debt after medical school.”
The FDC Foundation is matching each dollar raised for this year’s Bring a Doctor Home campaign.
In total, the event has raised more than $450,000 and may surpass the half-million mark this weekend.
Correction
Earlier versions of the article mispelled Doctor Sarita Verma and Doctor Jeff Jonusaitis' names.
