‘We don’t know what to do:’ Doctor shortage plagues Regina clinic

Saskatchewan’s doctor shortage has left clinics around the province with more patients than they can handle, and the manager of a Regina medical centre says everyone is feeling the added pressure.

Currently, people seeking a family doctor in Saskatoon can’t get one, as clinics report being at capacity and unable to take on new patients. In Regina, some clinics are accepting new patients, but the challenges doctors are facing can be just as dire.

Burnout, immense workloads, issues with recruitment and retention, and poor treatment of staff are all issues piling onto doctors and staff at the Integral Medical Centre in Regina.

Adekunle Sotomi, the clinic manager and a registered nurse, said the problems aren’t unique to his clinic, but are drastically impacting the doctors they have on staff, especially after one of the clinic’s physicians recently left.

Sotomi said that doctor was caring for a significant number of the clinic’s 2,000 patients. Recruitment for the position is underway, but he mentioned it’s not going well.

He has enlisted a recruiting agency to help with the challenge — a bill that’s going to run him about $8,000 — but said from what he has been hearing, doctors are simply not looking to Saskatchewan for work.

Sotomi is from Ireland, and between speaking with colleagues there and what he has heard from the recruitment agency, he said doctors aren’t exactly lining up to come to the province.

“I don’t know why people don’t want to come here,” Sotomi said, adding that in the past, doctors from Australia and Europe regularly chose to move to Saskatchewan to practise.

The few doctors that do choose Saskatchewan seem to do so only because they or their partner have ties to the province, Sotomi said.

The Regina clinic’s physician shortage and difficulty with recruitment exacerbates other problems doctors are dealing with daily. Sotomi said doctors at his clinic are burned out, carrying heavy workloads that keep them at work well into the evening each day, and are being blamed by patients for long waits and other problems.

Even Sotomi added he doesn’t have a family doctor right now. He said he’s worried about the health of his patients while the clinic struggles to keep up, and occasionally even has to turn people away.

“They don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ve tried my best,” he stated. “We don’t know what to do.”

As concerned as Sotomi is for the patients, he said he is just as worried about the doctors working at his clinic.

One doctor who did join their staff recently brought with her a significant number of patients and is helping with the clinic’s patient load as well, according to Sotomi, but he mentions the workload can quickly become too much to handle.

“She’s burned out now,” Sotomi added.

The clinic manager said he’s feeling the same way. He added he has received calls on his personal phone from neighbours who are annoyed and frustrated that doctors aren’t able to see them.

Sotomi tells them the only thing he can: He’ll look into the problems.

“I was there this morning. I was kind of depressed (and) literally weak because I don’t have solutions. I have to go have a nap and then I’m back in the office,” he explained.

Another of the clinic’s physicians just returned from a trip overseas and came down sick. Sotomi said he spent his entire Sunday in the office moving patient appointments to telephone consultations for the following day because the physician was still planning to work from home.

One patient he called to reschedule told him the doctor should still be working, despite being ill.

“I’m older than her. I’m sicker than her. I need to see her,” is what Sotomi said he heard from the patient.

Those responses leave the clinic manager tired and frustrated.

Sotomi mentions everyone at the clinic works hard trying to keep wait times manageable, but sometimes physicians need more time with certain patients. To avoid filling up the waiting room to capacity, he said they ask people to wait in their vehicles for a call to come inside when a doctor is available to see them.

The clinic manager said he wants to see incentives for doctors to come to Saskatchewan, especially after so many left or retired during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has other ideas for recruitment, too. Sotomi said there’s a wealth of medical knowledge held by permanent residents of Saskatchewan who can’t currently practise in the province.

With every other province also seeking physicians, Sotomi said there are a number of people who have immigrated to Saskatchewan and were previously trained as doctors but have not been able to pay to receive the training to get their licence to practise here.

He said these doctors are willing to work and want to be trained.

“These doctors are here,” he said. “We don’t need to go over to England to spend unnecessary money to try and recruit people here or go to Ontario (and) try to bring people here.”

Without action, Sotomi expects to see people falling through the cracks, unable to find treatment. It leaves him sleepless at night, he said.

“What are we doing in Regina? What are we doing in Saskatchewan?” he asked.