Last week, Doctors Manitoba staff and President Dr. Nichelle Desilets visited physicians in western Manitoba, including Dauphin, Russell, Swan River, Minnedosa, and Neepawa. This was part of our continued outreach to visit physicians where they work, hear what concerns they have in their practices, and where Doctors Manitoba can help. 

What We Learned

“I was impressed by the dedication of physicians in every community we visited,” noted Dr. Nichelle Desilets. ​“Our colleagues are working incredibly hard every day to keep services open and available to families in their communities, but it’s clear they need more support and resources.” 

The team heard about coverage concerns for hospital services in many communities, including ER and inpatient, as well as concerns about other services like obstetrics and surgery. 

“There are innovative and thoughtful solutions to some wicked problems being proposed by physicians, who want to be part of making meaningful change,” Doctors Manitoba CEO Theresa Oswald said. ​“We need to work hard with the RHA to turn these concepts into reality.”

Advocating for You 

Physicians expressed concerns about a lack of engagement by the health system with physicians generally, as well as about the reliability of the VECTRs service. All of these concerns are being raised with health system leaders. 

Parkland-Assiniboine Medical District representative Dr. Bittoo Malik noted that ​“physicians here appreciated the in-person visit and the care and attention from the Doctors Manitoba team. While we have an amazing group of physicians in our western Manitoba communities, we need more support and we are thankful to have more help in advocating for what we need to care for our patients.” 

What​’s Next

Further trips are planned over the next few months to the north, Brandon, Portage, and other communities. 

Physicians can always get in touch with us to raise concerns by emailing practiceadvice@​doctorsmanitoba.​ca.