'It’s a ripple effect': Physician says lack of family doctors causing system to crumble
As many medical clinics close their doors for good, medical professionals around Saskatchewan are looking for ways to meet patients' needs.
The College of Family Physicians says it takes six years to train a new doctor. They also said that fewer students are choosing to study family medicine because of drawbacks, like overhead costs.
“It’s a ripple effect, and then for those family doctors who are left behind, we are just trying to see more and more patients and help with a burden and therefore our existing patients are waiting longer and longer to see us,” college president Dr. Andries Muller said.
Experts in Saskatchewan are looking at how other provinces are handling their healthcare system. In British Columbia, they announced a new payment model where doctors would be paid depending on the complexity of the appointment, including accounting for administrative costs, rather than a flat rate per visit like in Saskatchewan.
“We’ve heard folks in Saskatchewan calling for something smaller, and saying that this absolutely needs to happen to address the issues that exist in primary care in the province right now,” NDP Health Critic Vicki Mowat said.
The Minister of Rural and Remote Health, Everett Hindley said the province had met to discuss primary care at the end of October.
“There were some discussions about the primary care working group that’s doing its work, and we’re waiting for some recommendations from that group and then we’ll make some decisions,” Hindley said.
Muller said there is a domino effect as problems in primary care spill into walk-in clinics and emergency rooms, causing overcrowded hospitals and cancelled surgeries.
“It just proves the point that the basis of a good healthcare system is a good primary care system, and so if the primary care system crumbles, the rest of the healthcare system crumbles.”
He said the best long-term solution was to bolster the primary care system, and that a team-based approach will save the province money.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Las Vegas sheriff says at least 3 victims in university campus shootings, though conditions unknown
A person opened fire Wednesday on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus, and at least three victims were taken to hospitals, according to police who reported the shooter was found dead.
'I'm so broken': Grieving family speaks out after B.C. cancer patient awaiting treatment chooses MAID
A devastated family says long waits for cancer treatment led a beloved father and grandfather to choose medically assisted death 13 days ago.
BREAKING Public sector negotiations: Common Front rejects Quebec's latest offer
Quebec's Common Front of public sector unions has rejected the government's latest offer. The strike planned for Dec. 8 to 14 will go on as planned.
opinion Don Martin: Greg Fergus risks becoming the shortest serving Speaker in our history
House Speaker Greg Fergus could face a parliamentary committee inquisition where his fate might hang on a few supportive NDP votes. But political columnist Don Martin says this NDP support might be shaky, given how one possible replacement is herself a New Democrat.
PM pans Poilievre for 'pulling stunts' by threatening to delay MPs' holidays with House tactics
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is threatening to delay MPs' holidays by throwing up thousands of procedural motions seeking to block Liberal legislation until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau backs off his carbon tax. It's a move Government House Leader Karina Gould was quick to condemn, warning the Official Opposition leader's 'temper tantrum' tactics will impact Canadians.
No first-ballot winner as Assembly of First Nations seeks its next national chief
The Assembly of First Nations is headed into a second round of voting to choose a new national chief, after the first ballot did not put any of the six candidates over the 60 per cent threshold to win.
Accused of improper partisan conduct, MPs expected to vote for probe into Speaker Fergus
Members of Parliament appear poised to pass a Conservative motion calling for an expedited probe into House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus' conduct after days of acrimony in Ottawa over what he says was unintentional participation in a partisan event.
Lawsuit accuses Sean Combs, 2 others of raping 17-year-old girl in 2003; Combs denies allegations
A woman sued the hip-hop mogul Sean 'Diddy' Combs on Wednesday, claiming he and two other men raped her 20 years ago in a New York City recording studio when she was 17.
Director behind bold and controversial TV comedies has died
Norman Lear, the writer, director and producer who revolutionized prime time television with 'All in the Family' and 'Maude,' propelling political and social turmoil into the once-insulated world of sitcoms, has died. He was 101.