Manitoba adds record number of doctors

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This article was published 11/10/2024 (395 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Doctors Manitoba has reported the biggest net increase in the number of physicians practising around the province, but despite the desperately needed boost, it still has the second-lowest per capita rate of physicians in Canada.

The net gain of 133 doctors, from May 2023 to April 2024, surpassed the previous high of 83 in 2014.

The report is a good start, but one positive year doesn’t guarantee an upward trend, president Dr. Randy Guzman said.

“I think this is a good news story. It is a positive point in time, but we still need to see further years of positive trends.”

The advocacy organization reported Thursday there are 219 doctors per 100,000 Manitobans — a two per cent increase that marked the highest of any province.

Still, Manitoba has a shortage of 346 doctors, when population growth in the past year is factored in, which the organization’s news release describes as urgent but also a “significant improvement” from the 445-doctor shortage last year.

In terms of family doctors, Manitoba has the lowest per capita rate in Canada.

In the last 20-year period, Manitoba has registered the lowest growth in the physician-per capita rate across the country. In a 2024 survey, 688 doctors — 20 per cent — said they are considering retiring or moving away in the next three years.

“That is more than the number of students we have in all four years in medical school,” Guzman said, noting shortages contribute to stress and burnout.

The report notes progress such as the expansion of medical school seats, funding for physician services, and the rural physician recruitment fund. However, several of Doctors Manitoba’s recommendations remain unanswered. It recommends the government employ competitive recruitment efforts, expand medical training to Brandon and provide support to local physicians who are trying to recruit doctors.

Data used in the report dates from May 2023 to April 2024, and about half of that time was under the former Progressive Conservative government of Heather Stefanson, including when the agreement was inked in July 2023 to increase overall funding for physician services by $268 million over four years.

PC health critic Kathleen Cook described the previous government’s part in Thursday’s report as “seeds that are planted that take some time to bear fruit.”

“What I think the numbers speak to are the success of previous initiatives put in place by the previous PC government,” she said.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the NDP government set up a health-care retention and recruitment office in July, and suggested that “having a government that respects doctors and listens to them” resulted in improvements.

“We’ve been working really hard with our partners across the system to move us in a better direction, and the information shared in that report shows us that by working together, we can continue to move things in the direction that Manitobans voted us here to do.”

At the retention and recruitment office, provincial lead Michele Lane and a team of staff and physicians is reaching out to doctors interested in relocating to Manitoba. They hope the personal touch will inspire them to make the move.

“In order for us to be successful in finding doctors to come and work here, we have to be providing that one-to-one support,” she said.

“How do we help? What are you missing? Where can we steer you to? What more information do you need? Here’s information on the community that was looking for a physician. There’s that constant staying in touch with them.”

The conversation goes beyond a physician sending in their resumé and getting connected to a representative, Lane said.

Staff work with physicians on immigration documentation, work visas and other necessary measures to get an out-of-country doctor into the province.

The process can take many months, she said.

“(We) make sure we keep in touch so (doctors) don’t lose interest in Manitoba. We want to make sure we continue to promote Manitoba, and coming and working here.”

A 2024 survey by Doctors Manitoba included responses from 1,145 licensed doctors — a 35 per cent response rate. That is equivalent to a margin of error of plus or minus two per cent, 19 times out of 20, the organization said.

Manitoba has gained 60 physicians annually, on average, in the last decade.

» Winnipeg Free Press, with files from Carol Sanders