Souris won't be getting doctors it expected

The town of Souris won't be getting the new family doctors it was expecting, this at a time when the number of doctors in Canada is at a record high.

It's not an uncommon problem in Souris, which has only two full-time family doctors.

Mayor David MacDonald was hoping to add another two.

He was stunned to learn the two who had planned to move to Souris changed their minds.

"The recruiting people felt they had a couple of doctors coming, so they stopped their recruiting efforts. Now they're going to have to go back and start at square one to recruit again. And that's unfortunate," said MacDonald.

There is no word when Souris might add new doctors.

The problem is becoming all too common in small towns, said MacDonald.

"We can't offer many of the things a doctor would want. Especially for their family, not so much themselves. But if they have a young family, they want them to perhaps be exposed to some things that we can't offer in our community."

"I worry. I worry about little things, said Souris resident Anne McPhee,

"I let things go that should be followed up on."

McPhee considers herself one of the lucky ones. She's healthy and has a family doctor.

Although that hasn't always been the case.

"I think I've had about 12 doctors come and go, come and go. I've never had a doctor any more than a couple of years. And then I'd go a couple of years with no doctor."

Currently, the community is relying on locum doctors to fill in when needed, but they're only on month-to-month terms.