How Clinics Find Reliable Locum Coverage, Fast

Every clinic faces coverage gaps. A physician gets sick, takes a long-planned vacation, starts parental leave, or steps back to manage burnout. When that happens, the schedule does not pause — patients still need appointments, prescriptions still need renewing, and results still need reviewing. Finding reliable locum coverage quickly is what keeps a practice running smoothly through an absence. This guide is for clinic managers and physicians who need to arrange coverage without leaving patients stranded.

Why coverage gaps happen

Gaps are a normal part of running a clinic, not a sign of poor planning. The most common causes are:

• Sick days — usually urgent and hard to predict.
• Vacation and conferences — planned, so easiest to cover well.
• Parental leave — a longer, defined block that benefits from continuity.
• Burnout and stress leave — increasingly recognised, and sometimes needing flexible or recurring coverage.
• Practice transitions — a retiring or relocating physician whose panel needs bridging.

Your options for finding coverage

There is no single right channel — the best choice depends on how much notice you have and how well you want the locum to know your practice:

• Colleagues and networks — the most trusted route, since the physician may already know your patients and EMR, but availability is limited.
• Locum agencies — handle matching and logistics for a fee, useful for longer or harder-to-fill placements.
• Marketplaces — let you connect directly with available physicians, often faster and at lower cost, which suits short-notice and recurring gaps.

Many clinics keep a small bench of trusted locums for quick calls and use a marketplace to reach new physicians when the bench is unavailable. You can post a coverage need on PRN Doc for free and connect directly with physicians looking for shifts.

How to prepare a shift for a locum

A well-prepared shift is the single biggest factor in whether a locum is productive and wants to come back. Before the first day, make sure the following are in place:

• EMR access — a working login created ahead of time, with the right permissions to document, order and bill.
• Billing setup — agree in advance how the locum bills (their own OHIP number or a clinic arrangement) and confirm current fee codes against the OHIP Schedule of Benefits.
• MOA and reception support— someone who can orient the locum to workflows, phones and the day's schedule.
• Patient panel notes — a short handover on complex, high-risk or follow-up patients booked during the coverage period.
• After-hours and results pathways — who reviews incoming labs and imaging, and how urgent findings are escalated.

How to vet a locum

Due diligence protects your patients and your practice. Before booking, confirm the essentials:

• Verify registration status on the CPSO public register and confirm the class of registration suits the work.
• Confirm the physician holds appropriate CMPA coverage for the shifts.
• Check references from other clinics the locum has covered.
• Discuss scope, comfort with your patient population, and any limits up front.

Building repeatable coverage

The clinics that handle absences best treat coverage as an ongoing relationship, not a one-off emergency. Keep an onboarding sheet ready, maintain a roster of locums who already know your systems, and give feedback so good physicians want to return. When a physician has covered you once and it went well, re-booking them is far faster than starting from scratch. For the physician's perspective on this same working relationship, see our guide to family physician locum jobs in the GTA.

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information, not legal, billing or regulatory advice. Confirm credentialling, coverage and billing specifics with the CPSO, CMPA and the OHIP Schedule of Benefits for your situation.