Roblin faces shortage of doctors after three of four resign
Ambulances will be redirected to Russell Health Centre or Grandview District Hospital
The Roblin Health Centre will be facing a series of temporary suspensions of emergency services after three of the rural Manitoba community's four doctors resigned. It is not known when emergency services will return to normal levels.
Two of the resignations are already in effect as of April 19 and May 2, while the third will be effective as of June 21, all of the resignations were tendered in March.
The one remaining doctor is simply unable to provide the community with round-the-clock emergency care, according to Prairie Mountain Health.
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This is not an uncommon problem according to Michelle McKay, the director of medical services administration at Prairie Mountain Health. She says recruitment and retention of doctors to rural Manitoba, and rural Canada in general, is a constant problem.
"The challenge is in rural Manitoba, when you're looking at two to four physicians, any resignation is significant because it's a percentage of the work force," McKay said Friday.
Emergency services will still be available to residents in Roblin when they dial 911, McKay said. If the Roblin Health Centre emergency room is closed, ambulances will be directed to Russell Health Centre or Grandview District Hospital, which are both about 50 kilometres away.
The health authority is trying to keep emergency response times to 30 minutes or less, McKay told CBC's Radio Noon.
A long-term solution offers little help in the short term
Prairie Mountain Health is working to improve physician retention and recruitment together with Manitoba's Office of Rural and Northern Health, McKay said. In addition, the University of Manitoba runs a program which requires international medical graduates to work in rural Manitoba for a period of time.
"These are steps that I think will help in the long term, unfortunately it's a bit of a long-term solution and we're still facing lots of challenges in rural Manitoba," McKay said.
McKay doesn't said the choice to leave is rarely based on the physicians' experience in the rural community – but rather what is offered elsewhere.
"They move on to urban centres or other centres for cultural reasons, educational reasons, those types of reasons for leaving the area," she said.