Carberry welcoming new doctor in the fall

Carberry has been down to one doctor since the spring, but the recruitment of an internationally trained physician from Palestine is expected to fill the gap when she begins practising this fall, the town’s mayor says.

Ray Muirhead and Prairie Mountain Health officials welcomed incoming Dr. Hanan Almanama, her husband and three children, on a tour of the Carberry Plains Health Centre in June.

The addition of a second doctor will be “great for the community,” Muirhead said on Tuesday.

“Once we heard that Dr. Hanna Aligaili was looking around and eventually going … we contacted Prairie Mountain Health right away, you know, because we want to be right on top of this,” he said.

Prairie Mountain Health recruited Almanama through one of the provincial international medical graduate program streams, a spokesperson for the regional health authority said.

She completed three months of training through the Practice Ready Assessment for Manitoba Family Practitioners program, which requires physicians to sign return-of-service agreements in rural and underserved areas in Manitoba.

Prairie Mountain Health would not specify how long the doctor was required to stay in the community for.

Almanama declined an interview with the Sun but said in a statement on Monday that she enjoyed meeting staff at the hospital on June 17 and is eager to start her new chapter in Carberry.

“It has been a long journey to get here, so it means a lot to me. I’m looking forward to meeting my patients, getting to know the community, and doing my best to take good care of them,” she said.

Almanama said she finished medical school in Palestine in 2015, followed by her residency in family medicine in 2018. She also completed a postgraduate diploma in family medicine at the University of Plymouth in the U.K.

After that, Almanama worked as a doctor with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency caring for Palestinian refugees for four years, she said.

She moved to Manitoba with her family in 2024 and is grateful to have upgraded her medical training to practise in the province, she said.

“I’ve always enjoyed family medicine because you get to know your patients over time and build long-term relationships with them,” Almanama said. “After visiting Carberry, I felt it would be a great place to work and build those relationships.”

Prairie Mountain Health said the family also toured schools, daycares, recreation facilities and potential housing accommodations.

“The first thing I noticed was how friendly and welcoming everyone was. People made us feel at home right away, and it already felt like a place we could belong,” Almanama said.

She said she wants her future patients to feel comfortable asking questions.

“I believe good care is based on trust and respect, and I’m looking forward to building good relationships with my patients and being part of the Carberry community,” she said.

Muirhead said having a second doctor, along with two nurse practitioners who work at the hospital, will help keep the emergency room open.

An online schedule shows the ER is temporarily closed for eight consecutive days before reopening on July 8 for 11 hours followed by another six-day closure.

Muirhead said he didn’t have any information on the upcoming closures.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com