Doctors Manitoba team stops in Brandon for regular checkup

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This article was published 16/11/2023 (847 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon doctors are experiencing quite a bit of strain and stress because of heavy workloads and less staff, but there is also optimism, says Doctors Manitoba, the province’s non-partisan physicians’ advocacy group.

A team from Doctors Manitoba was in the Wheat City for the last two days and met with dozens of physicians at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, Brandon Clinic and Western Medical Clinic as part of a fact-finding mission, and a regular checkup with its members, said Doctors Manitoba CEO Theresa Oswald.

“Our conversations were focused around recruitment, which is really the number one issue in Brandon right now, and retention of physicians. We need to increase our numbers,” Oswald said.

“I’ve heard from the regional health authority that a minimum of 75 net new physicians in the community are needed to be able to provide the best possible care. It’s possible that the number is even higher than that. And so, this is no joke. This is something that needs to have a dedicated, intentional, and sustained effort.”

The optimism Oswald said she and her team noticed was through discussions with Westman doctors, and their perception of the message from the newly elected NDP government about the importance of changing the culture in health care.

“They heard loud and clear that the new government wants to actively work to infuse dignity and respect back into health care to really re-energize their efforts on listening to physicians and front-line providers,” said Oswald. “So, that was a very big talker with physicians. They have been feeling hopeless.

“And they’re optimistic that there’s going to be more listening, investment that is deeply needed, and that there’s going to be a collaborative approach to recruitment, which is the number one issue — we need more hands on deck.”

Other initiatives that were discussed with the 60 or so doctors in Brandon included the recent $268-million, four-year Physician Services Agreement, which was ratified in August, giving doctors an increase in funding to run their practices, and a new billing option for family physicians and pediatricians, enabling them to see patients with more than one medical concern.

Additional discussions about recruitment touched on a national study released at the end of October, which shows Manitoba has the second-lowest number of doctors per capita in Canada and sits at rock bottom when it comes to the per-capita number of family physicians.

Manitoba has 215 doctors per 100,000 residents, which is the second-lowest rate in the country and well below the national average of 247. Prince Edward Island has the lowest number of doctors per capita, with 209 doctors per 100,000 people.

Oswald said there were some “really bright ideas” that came from the meetings with Westman’s doctors, about bringing new physicians to Manitoba, but she hesitated to share them with the Sun.

“It’s not that they’re secret — we want to stress-test the ideas. Maybe some of them haven’t been tried because they’re not viable. So, we want to talk to our government partners, we want to work with the regional health authority, and really give these ideas of good thrash and not have them sit on a shelf somewhere,” she said.

“So, believe me, once we do further analysis, and really look at what’s possible, we’re going to be shouting this information from the mountaintops, because we’ll want everybody to know how we can grow in the same direction to increase the complement of physicians here.”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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