Steinbach MLA and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced that Nineteen family physicians have or will soon be starting work in communities across the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.

“Physicians in rural communities have told us that at times they feel isolated, and many have left to work in larger centres or facilities where more people and resources are available,” said Goertzen. “To address this, the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority has been implementing new, team-based models of primary care. Now, these 19 new family physicians are moving to communities across the region, ensuring quality care for rural Manitobans.”

Primary care refers to that early contact with the health-care system when patients and their families receive a diagnosis, treatment or help with a new health problem or chronic condition. Services can also include speaking with a health-care provider about staying healthy and preventing illness.

Physicians have already started or will be coming to several communities over the next several months including Ashern (two), Eriksdale (one), Arborg (one), Teulon (two), Stonewall (two), Selkirk (two), Beausejour (two), Pine Falls (three), Gimli (three) and Brokenhead (one).

In addition, three specialists have also been recruited to the region to provide palliative care, surgical and hospital services, the minister said.

“Like most rural regions in Canada, attracting and retaining family physicians has been a challenge for the Interlake and North Eastman communities for many years,” said Ron Van Denakker, chief executive officer of the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. “I’m very pleased that the hard work we’ve done to provide new ways to support family physicians and build a stronger primary care system is seeing such positive results.”

The region has been implementing a number of initiatives to better support family physicians and make sure they are able to address patient needs while having a healthy work-life balance. This includes:

  • developing primary care teams of physicians, nurses and other primary care providers so they are able to collaborate and share workloads and responsibilities;
  • implementing a common system for electronic medical records, which allows health-care providers to better share patient care information;
  • reorganizing the region’s primary health care services and hiring a clinical team manager to support clinics and engage regularly with physicians on clinic operations; and
  • creating a strong regional system made up of local physician leaders who offer effective communication, direction and support to the local family physicians.

“It has always been my intention to work in a rural setting,” said Dr. Dylan Thompson. “After speaking with individuals and visiting multiple communities in Manitoba, I found Gimli offered everything I was searching for in terms of a challenging and rewarding practice environment.”

Physicians coming to work in the region are a combination of recent medical school graduates from Canada, international medical graduates and physicians recruited from other countries such as the United Kingdom.

“The regional health authority has done an extensive amount of work to partner with the health department, physicians currently working in the region, community leaders, the Northern Medical Unit, the Office of Rural and Northern Health, the Max Rady College of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, the Manitoba Healthcare Providers Network and the College of Physicians and Surgeons,” said Goertzen. “These connections help medical students and recent graduates learn about rural practice and rural living, and encourage people to choose to live in a rural community to begin their professional lives in Manitoba.”

The minister noted that ongoing physician recruitment and retention efforts will be a key priority of clinical service planning to be undertaken by Shared Health Services Manitoba. This work will support consistent and reliable health-care services, effective health human resource planning, capital equipment investments, construction planning and other initiatives that should be co-ordinated provincewide, he added.