A new community collaborative was launched last Wednesday to formulate strategies to attract and retain physicians and other health care professionals to Yorkton.
Difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of physicians affect many communities in Canada and Yorkton is no exception. At present there are 13 family physicians practicing in Yorkton. The desired number is one family physician for every 1,200 residents. Sunrise Health Region recommends that a community the size of Yorkton have 18 family physicians, explained a release circulated at the press conference.
The collaborative involved the City of Yorkton, Sunrise Health Region, and five other community organizations.
Joining in the collaborative are the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce, local physician representation, Yorkton Tribal Council, The Health Foundation of East Central Saskatchewan and Yorkton Business Improvement District. Representatives from these groups will explore strategies to entice physicians and other health care professionals to the area, and ways to ease their transition into the community.
The idea of the group came about after representatives of the SHR appeared before Yorkton Council earlier this year seeking City support to attract more doctors to the city, explained Yorkton Mayor James Wilson at a press conference at City Hall.
Wilson said the City appreciates the need for doctors in the city given that Yorkton provides "primary health care for the region." He said as a community the city must do what it can to address the current family physician shortage.
"The Sunrise Health Region approached City Council in January requesting action," said Wilson.
Wilson said in follow-up discussions with SHR representatives it was determined a collaborative approach made sense as a way of "harnessing the collective wisdom of the community as a whole."
Sunrise Regional Health Authority Chairman Greg Kobylka, said the issue of retention and recruitment is not unique to the city, but the issue is one which needs to be addressed. He said it is desirable to have one family physician for every 1,200 residents, and under that allocation Yorkton should have 18.
Chief Gilbert Panipekeesick with the Yorkton Tribal Council said there is a need to work together now because as you look at the city over the short and long term the population will grow, and the shortage could become more acute.
"We have to meet the needs 10, 15, 20-years from now," he said, adding they need to look at "how we're going to address and meet the needs of some of the services required."
Doctor Phillip Fourie, a physician sitting on the collaborative, said he sees the effects of the shortage. He said when he arrived in the city 10-years ago very few people came to emergency "without a family physician."
"Now very large numbers of patients come in that don't have family physicians."
Nationally, Kobylka said it was estimated in 2009, there was a shortage of 3,000 family physicians.
In Saskatchewan a recent posting site showed 121 openings of family physicians, and "370 for all other health professionals."
However, recruitment also includes finding better ways to attract specialists such as internal medicine, laboratory technologists, and others.
Wilson agreed Yorkton is not alone in its need.
"We're not in a unique situation, that's obvious," he said.
Fourie said the shortage makes it more difficult to retain existing doctors because the workloads can be daunting, and the hours long.
While not an immediate answer to the shortage, the collaborative does offer existing doctors hope there is some "light at the end of the tunnel" in terms of finding new doctors to alleviate the situation.
One of the collaborative's focus will be determining how best to 'sell' the city to potential health care professionals, said Kobylka, adding it comes down to how to "present our community in the most positive light." He added in that regard "Yorkton has much to offer" in terms of lifestyle.
Lifestyle is a definite consideration for perspective physicians said Fourie. He said they look for a "work environment" where they can "have a very good work / life balance."
Fourie said physicians want to live in communities which have amenities for the spouses and children too.
Lawrence Wegner, president of the Yorkton Chamber of Commerce said he believes city attributes such as education are important assets in recruitment.
"What we're trying to do here is sell Yorkton as a community," he said.
Wegner said what the collaborative doesn't want to do is to start throwing money at recruiting doctors.
"Incentives are wonderful, but they don't always work," he said " We don't want to fall into the trap and get into a bidding war."
Asked if a component of the process would be lobbying the province regarding doctor recruitment, Wilson said while they have had discussions with the province, and will again, the focus will be on developing local solutions.
Fourie he wasn't sure it was beneficial "to go out and expect somebody else to do it," adding " the community has a responsibility to do something from here."
Kobylka said he believes the collaborative approach can be an effective one."I look forward to many exciting ideas coming forward," he said.
Wilson too said he thinks the approach can work.
"When we come together good things happen," he said.
Fourie too said he sees the process as a positive one.
"As a physician I'm very excited about this," he said, adding when people ask about the doctor situation " I can tell them something is being done."
As for a timeframe Ross Fisher with the Health Foundation said they have not determined a time line yet, but added "we need to get moving on it right away We want to do this as quickly as we can."
Kobylka said that whatever strategy the new collaborative comes up with, it will not be a fast process, suggesting it generally takes eight-to-12 months from contact with a perspective doctor "to the time they move to Yorkton."
