New Minnedosa doctors will keep ER open 24-7

MINNEDOSA — The impending arrival of two internationally trained doctors means the Minnedosa ER can be open 24-7 starting this fall, says the hospital’s acute care manager.

With the two additions, Minnedosa will have a total of six doctors, which is “huge,” Lana Hogg said.

Hogg, along with a recruitment and retention co-ordinator for Prairie Mountain Health, provided one of the new doctors with a tour of the Minnedosa Health Centre on Friday morning.

She showed Dr. Karen Aquino different parts of the small hospital, including patient, treatment and operating rooms, the laboratory and X-ray area and the three-bed emergency department, which currently closes every Thursday, Hogg said.

There are four family physicians at the hospital, but only three provide ER coverage, so when the ER temporarily closes, it adds pressure to the hospitals in Neepawa and Brandon, she said.

“We had one lady that was upset because she had to call the ambulance from just down the street. We were closed, so she ended up in Neepawa, so then she couldn’t get a ride home,” Hogg said.

“Being open 24-7 is going to open those doors a little more to even local citizens.”

Having two new doctors will also alleviate the strain on the existing physicians at the hospital who are juggling patient appointments, seeing residents in the personal care home, managing the ER and performing surgeries.

Knowing that there will be ER coverage when other doctors are in surgery will “be a nice change,” Hogg said.

Aquino said she looks forward to the variability of the practice.

“I got very lucky to be placed here,” she said after touring the site.

She is one of seven internationally trained doctors who were recruited by Prairie Mountain Health through the University of Manitoba Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates.

Dr. Moazzam Raza will also be based in Minnedosa, Dr. Saleema Arif will practise in Ste. Rose du Lac, Dr. Porimol Debnath will be in Russell and Dr. Ana Hernandez will provide care in Rossburn and Shoal Lake.

Doctors Shamsudeen and Olamide Usman, who are husband and wife, will practise in Killarney.

Prairie Mountain Health identified these communities to have a shortage of family doctors in November.

Aquino was accepted into the one-year program in 2024 and is expected to graduate in June.

She completed her medical education in the Philippines and worked as an anesthesiologist and family physician before she moved to Winnipeg in 2013.

She fell in love with the idea of living in a small community long-term when she moved to Brandon in 2018 to work as an anesthesia clinical assistant at the Brandon Regional Health Centre.

“That’s how I got to know the doctors in Minnedosa as well,” Aquino said.

The peacefulness, tight-knit community and lack of noise and traffic drew her in and prompted her to put Minnedosa as her first choice for her four-year return-of-service contract.

Aquino said she feels happy and thankful to be granted this opportunity.

She wants her future patients to know that she’s very easy-going and approachable.

“I kind of want to be connected to everybody because I want to succeed here as well. I want the people to love me,” she said.

The international medical graduates program receives upwards of 1,000 applications every year and only 30 applicants are accepted.

The regional health authority typically places seven to eight graduates in rural communities on an annual basis.

Prairie Mountain Health organizes site visits with doctors, so they can get accustomed to relocating to an area that suits their needs. These visits can include checking out daycares, schools and recreation activities, touring the health-care facility and meeting with council members and real estate agents.

Hogg, who manages the health-care facilities in Minnedosa and Hamiota, said she meets with medical residents and students to encourage them to work in either of the rural communities.

“I feel like sometimes when you come out of nursing school or med school, there’s just so many opportunities, you don’t know what’s out there,” she said.

Having conversations with residents or students taking their practicum helps them decide what’s the right fit for them and can open their eyes to working in rural areas, she said.

With the new doctors coming this fall, she said anyone waitlisted for a family physician will have the chance to be taken in as a new patient and have their health-care needs met sooner.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com