'Staggering’ number of physician vacancies shocks Driedger

RHA says numbers higher due to new reporting system

RECORD FILE PHOTO BY DAVE BAXTER

Progressive Conservative Health Critic Myrna Driedger said the number of doctors the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority has lost in the last 18 months is ‘staggering’. 

 

 By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record

A dramatic spike in the number of physician vacancies in the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority over the last 18 months left Manitoba’s health critic stuck for words in a recent interview.

New numbers from the RHA show there are 24 vacancies in the region, while 18 months ago there were just three.

Progressive Conservative Health Critic Myrna Driedger said she was shocked to hear about the spike in vacancies.

“Are you serious?” Driedger asked at the start of a phone interview.

The Record asked Driedger to comment after it discovered the new numbers, but Driedger was initially hesitant to respond saying she thought there may be have been an error.

“I’m absolutely stuck for words as to what to even say,” Driedger said.

“I’m floored.”

Driedger said she’s never heard of a health authority losing so many doctors in such a short period of time.

“To me that raises red flags and tells me that there’s something seriously wrong,” Driedger said.

“Those numbers are just absolutely staggering.”

Driedger said although the RHA is short 24 doctors on paper, it would actually take 30 physicians to fill all vacancies in the Interlake, because many doctors are only working on a part-time basis. 

Driedger accused the province of allowing the Interlake’s doctor shortage to get out of control.

She said Interlake residents have good reason to be worried about the quality of care they are receiving.

“With that kind of a shortage obviously there is going to be a profound effect on patient care,” Driedger said.

Health Minister Sharon Blady said she was disappointed to hear about the rise in vacancies over the last year-and-a-half.

“We are disappointed there has been an increase in vacancies, but are committed to continuing to work with the region to ensure Manitoba families in the Interlake have quality health care,” Blady said in a emailed statement to the Record.

“I know the region has been working very hard to recruit new doctors and we support their ongoing efforts.”

The Health Authority said its vacancy numbers are now higher due to a more robust reporting system it has enacted.

“The way in which we report vacancies now is a little different than the way we did it before,” said acting chief executive officer Ron Van Denakker in a phone interview.

“It’s just a tighter way of reporting.”

The Health Authority’s regional manager of physician services said the RHA’s old reporting system was changed because it didn’t include doctors who were working on a fee-for-service basis.

“We didn’t feel it was an accurate enough picture for our communities and the public to look only at the contract physicians,” said Lorri Beer in a phone interview.

The RHA disputes Driedger’s claim 30 doctors are needed to fill vacancies in the region.

Beer said physician vacancies fluctuate regularly, which makes number reporting a tricky task.

“It’s very difficult to really, mathematically, do a head count of the number of physicians required,” Beer said.

Michelle Gawronsky, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union, said emergency medical staff are directly impacted by the doctor shortage. 

She said increased pressure is placed on paramedics when there are no doctors in emergency rooms, because they have to drive patients further.

“It’s got a major affect on our EMS members,” Gawronsky said.

Van Denakker said the RHA has plans to hire doctors in communities like Ashern soon.

“We recruit everyday,” he said.

 

-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition February 19, 2015 p.2