Two doctors coming to Kipling
Virtual physician, locums to cover for now
July 15, 2024, 9:43 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Kipling said goodbye to all three of their doctors this summer, with a plan in place until the next two arrive.
Town Council received correspondence from the Saskatchewan Heath Authority regarding the current state of healthcare services in the community, learning what the immediate future holds in store. The three doctors that were based out of the Kipling Integrated Health Centre have completed their contracts, bringing forth some creative solutions to ensure healthcare coverage is sustained until more physicians arrive.
“We will have some locum this week, and the last week of July,” Mayor Jackson told council during their regular meeting on July 8. “The nurse practitioner is working most of the time, we’re going to have them from the 15th to the 29th; I have not received an update that we will have clinic coverage.”
That locum coverage will come courtesy of physicians based in Moosomin.
“The SHA would like to thank the physicians in nearby Moosomin who have agreed to help provide medical services in Kipling until the new physicians start practicing,” said James Winkel, an SHA communications lead. “Kipling also has a Registered Nurse who has Additional Authorized Practice (AAP) certification. An AAP designation assists the RN in assessing and treating patients in Kipling for minor ailments and procedures. Residents of Kipling and area requiring medical assistance are urged to contact the Kipling Medical Clinic where they can be assessed and treated accordingly.”
Doctors Farshad Nokam and Shiden Faghih have been in Kipling for more than six years, with their contracts ending in June, and Dr. Ladan Ansari’s last day was July 11. The community was made aware of their impending departure months ago, with one new physician expected to arrive August 1 and another some time in October.
“Both are currently working their way through mandatory training and immigration requirements,” Winkel said. “The SHA continues to work with the community to help prepare for their arrival.”
To help fill the gap, Kipling will also see 24-hour coverage via the virtual physician program to ensure emergency health services remain until new doctors arrive. Kipling is not alone in utilizing virtual physicians as other centres such as Porcupine Plain, Oxbow, Broadview, Davidson, Gravelbourg, and Lanigan have also launched the program that uses the existing HealthLine 811 technology.
Jackson noted she would like to see the virtual physician program remain even after the new doctors come to Kipling as a way to lighten the load and even lessen the amount of on-call time in an ultimate effort to decrease burnout.
“It is an attempt to make ‘having a life’ possible,” she said. “Hopefully, we can have doctors who will come and will choose to stay.”
The shortage of physicians isn’t a problem limited to Kipling, as an estimated 200,000 people in Saskatchewan are currently without a family doctor. Back in June, the provincial government announced the addition of 27 new Nurse Practitioner positions to be created in the SHA through $4.5 million worth of funding from the current budget. Initially, an application deadline of June 10 was placed to fill the positions, but several remain unfilled to date.
