Dr. Allison Adamus didn’t want to make the hard decision to close her Martensville medical clinic to walk-in patients effective Monday, April 18.
She also didn’t want to give up her obstetrics duties at a Saskatoon hospital.
But she had no alternative.
With more than 1,500 patients depending on her as their family physician at the Martensville Collective Health and Wellness clinic, the workload and responsibilities are overwhelming.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” said Adamus in an interview. “Those 1,500 people rely on me as their doctor; as their primary health care provider.
“If you don’t have a family doctor, how do you get referred to a specialist; how do you keep a handle on controlling your diabetes so you don’t develop complications; or end up in a hospital on oxygen?”
Adamus said when family doctors get sick or need to take time off, there’s tremendous pressure on them to get back to work as quickly as possible.
“Those patients need you,” she said. “It’s difficult to take time off because you feel responsible for those people.”
She said she is so busy her patients are currently booking nine weeks in advance for appointments.
For the past eight years, Adamus has been advocating for changes to provincial health regulations that would make it easier for Martensville and Warman to recruit and retain family physicians.
But, it’s been difficult.
And with two physicians in her clinic slated to leave next month (Dr. Sarah Strasser in mid-May and Dr. Matthew Wong at the end of May), the shortage of doctors for an increasing number of patients is getting worse.
From a staff of four full-time and one part-time physician, down to two full-time and one-part time physician, in the only medical clinic in a city of nearly 12,000 people, the current situation is not sustainable, said Adamus.
When the population of Warman, with more than 12,000 people, is added in, the lack of family doctors in the region has reached what Warman Mayor Gary Philipchuk calls a ‘crisis’ stage. In Warman, two clinics have temporarily closed in the past year, and those that are still open have long wait times that are growing longer every day.
The situation is changing daily. Walk-in patients used to face long wait times at clinics; but now they are finding they may not have any access at all.
That means they must travel to Saskatoon to see a physician at a walk-in clinic in that larger city, or find a family physician there to take them on as a patient.
Currently, only two clinics in Saskatoon are accepting new patients.
“It was a tough call to tell people we can’t take walk-ins anymore,” said Adamus in an interview.
“We have to focus on our initial mission to provide primary care to our patients, and in order to do that and maintain the physicians we still have, we had to let something go.
“But, at least now people are paying attention to the problem.”
Adamus said she and Dr. Marcel Smit of the Legends Medical Clinic in Warman are pressing for changes that would allow Warman and Martensville to be eligible for ‘Return of Service’ (ROS) agreements that allow physicians to complete their residency training requirements. Currently ROS agreements apply only to rural and remote communities which are considered to be under-served.
But, even though Martensville and Warman come under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Rural and Remote Health, Everett Hindley instead of Health Minister Paul Minister, they are excluded from the ROS agreements because of their close proximity to Saskatoon.
“At one time Martensville and Warman were bedroom communities,” said Adamus. “But they aren’t anymore. They’re growing, independent cities and should be eligible for the ROS agreements and other recruitment and retention strategies available to similar communities.
“The current situation is putting an incredible strain on the physicians we do have and it’s impacting our ability to compete with other communities who are eligible for recruitment and retention strategies.”
Adamus, who grew up in Martensville and earned her medical degree at the University of Saskatchewan and her specialization in family medicine at Dalhousie University, said she doesn’t want to leave .
But, she added, if conditions continue to deteriorate, she may have to.
“I don’t want to leave my community,” she said.
“I’ve fought so hard for the last eight years to make changes for the better, and it would feel like defeat if I walk away.
“It’s unfortunate that it took the loss of a much-needed service to grab the attention of the decision-makers.”