DOCTORS Siva Sriharan and Srinivas Chakravarthi may never get rich in the small Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario, but they can eat all they want for the rest of their lives at Casey's Bar and Grill.

That's not all. For the next year, they can also get their hair cut free at the Touch of Class beauty salon.

Plus free house repairs and landscaping, and free massages, reported The New York Times.

It's all meant to keep the two neurosurgeons - of the four serving the city - from leaving.

When rumours leaked out that they were considering moving to the US, the freebie offers started pouring in.

But Dr Sriharan, 38, who hails from Sri Lanka, said it's not about the money: 'We can't do our job properly with operating room time so extremely limited here.'

SHORTAGE OF MANPOWER, EQUIPMENT

The doctor also said there was a shortage of nurses and anaesthetists in the hospital where the only microscope available is old and breaking down.

Dr Chakravarthi, 53, who comes from India, said: 'It's the system that is pushing us out.'

Canada's healthcare system is hampered by insufficient doctors and longer waiting times for surgery.

It all leads to burnout, said Dr Sunil V Patel, president of the Canadian Medical Association, in part, because doctors feel powerless when patients complain about long waits for treatment.

'That burnout causes them to retire early or pull away from certain kinds of work or simply leave.'

It is no wonder that many doctors feel the lure of the US these days.

There was a net migration of 49 neurosurgeons from Canada from 1996 to 2002, said the Canadian Institute for Health Information - a large loss, since there are only 241 neurosurgeons in the country.

But at Windsor, residents are fighting the trend with offers and letters to the local newspaper urging the surgeons to stay.

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed. Mayor Mike D Hurst has speeded up a recruitment and retention initiative for doctors.

Mr John O'Kane, 46, Casey's owner, who is leading the local crusade, has a personal reason.

He is convinced that the surgery Dr Sriharan performed on him last year is the reason he can play ice hockey and tennis again.

But so far the doctors have not come by to take up his offer of free food, or responded to any other offer.

Said Mr O'Kane with a laugh: 'For all I know they are vegetarians,' (In fact, Dr Chakravarthi is.)

What do the two surgeons think of all this?

They said they were touched and embarrassed, but did not see how they could continue working under the present conditions.

But are they tempted by all the offers?

'Well, Dr Sriharan smiled in a mock sigh. 'I hear those girls at the beauty salon do very good highlights.'