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RECORD PHOTO BY BRETT MITCHELL
The Red River Medical Clinic inside Selkirk Town Plaza abruptly shut its doors on June 28.
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By Austin Grabish, The Selkirk Record
A medical clinic in Selkirk has abruptly closed its doors leaving patients who depend on the care its sole doctor provided in limbo.
The Red River Medical Clinic shut down on June 28, and provincial health officials are not sure if it will re-open or what will happen to the clinic’s patients.
The walk-in clinic located in Selkirk Town Plaza appeared empty last Friday and had a sign on the door apologizing to patients.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused,” the sign said.
Dr. Lamin Benshaban runs the clinic and has had his practice in the mall since 2010.
He was previously a doctor in Gimli, and news of his clinic’s closure wasn’t taken well by at least one of his patients.
St. Andrews resident Debbie Kars has diabetes, high blood pressure, and Shingles, and has been a regular patient of Benshaban’s for over three years.
She said he told her shortly before the clinic closed he had no choice, but to shut down his practice because the space was being taken over by another tenant.
“I went to him and said ‘why are you closing where are you going?'” she said.
“I wanted to know what’s happening.”
Kars said the doctor has been instrumental in helping her manage her diabetes over the last of couple of years, and fears not having a regular doctor to now go to.
“There’s a lot of people that are upset that he’s gone,” she said.
Last Friday, a Manitoba Health spokesperson said the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority contacted the clinic about its closure, but had yet to receive any kind of response.
The spokeswoman said the clinic is a fee-for-service practice meaning any physicians who work in it are under no contractual obligation to the RHA.
The spokeswoman said former patients of the walk-in clinic can go to the Selkirk QuickCare Clinic on Manitoba Avenue if they require care.
But the clinic is staffed only by nurse practitioners, and Kars said she would prefer to see a doctor for specialized care.
“I would rather have a doctor’s opinion not just a nurse’s opinion,” she said.
The Record reached the property manager of Selkirk Town Plaza briefly on the phone last Friday, but the manager wouldn’t get into details about the clinic’s closure or say if a new tenant was taking over the space.
“I can’t comment on that,” she said.
Kars said the clinic’s closure is another blow to a city already suffering from a doctor shortage.
“Selkirk does need doctors and we need them badly.”
“I feel like Selkirk has lost a good doctor.”
The Record was unable to reach Benshaban for comment.
-- First published in the Selkirk Record print edition July 9 2015 p.3
a dance n dress boutique? a military dance display for the world to see shop? a conspracy to have one clinic serve all due to funding redirections? hmm, what would be the jounalisms greater investigating role to nose in on privacy issue meant to be seen by the world? like hello, my daddy bought the eastern floor boards of the brits in 1798, so why elbow room? i dont know, dig up something other than unexopected, thats why i read yellow journalisms, now, go n find why mr. paper man or woman.
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