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Red Deer gains new family doctors

Red Deer's family doctor shortage has totally reversed this spring, with 10 new physicians in the community taking on new patients.
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(BLACK PRESS file photo)

Red Deer's family doctor shortage has reversed this spring, with 10 recently arrived physicians now taking new patients.

Not long ago, finding a family physician in Red Deer was a daunting prospect, with virtually all medical practises running at capacity. The situation has totally turned around in recent months.

According to the Find A Doctor feature on the Primary Care website, Dr. K. Mustafa and Dr. M Warmann, both male, are accepting new patients at the Easthill Wale In and Medical Clinic.

Saint Mary Family and Walk In Clinic has a new male physician, Dr. H. KhaleFa, who is accepting more patients.

Also, the Ebenezar Medical and Walk In clinic has five doctors taking new patients: Dr. C. Akwu-ude and Dr. O. Horsfall are both female and Dr. K. Clarke, Dr. U. Nwokpor and Dr. A. Oningo are male.

And West Park Medical and Walk In Clinic has two male physicians, Dr. F. Afulukwe and Dr. V. Mazamisa who are accepting new patients.

Getting "a whole bunch" of new doctors is great news for the city, said Dr. Peter Bouch of the Red Deer Primary Care Network. He knows many Red Deerians will also be pleased to see that two of the new doctors are female.

"As far as I know they will all have a full practise in family medicine — not necessarily delivering babies," added Bouch, but providing other kinds of "cradle to death" care for all ages. 

The recruitment was a joint effort between Alberta Health Services and existing physicians. Bouch does not believe a recruitment team travelled overseas to entice doctors from other countries but thinks some local doctors sold their friends on coming to Red Deer to set up practice.

Family physicians who received their initial medical training in other countries have to obtain Canadian certification to practise here and AHS has sponsor them.

Bouch said representatives of the Primary Care Network were part of a local working group, along with AHS and local doctors, to strategize ways of bringing more physicians to the Red Deer area "and this group has been very effective, obviously."

It's important for all Red Deerians to have access to a family doctor for many reasons, besides easing wait lists at hospital emergency rooms. The Alberta Medical Association recently cautioned that chronic conditions are almost impossible to manage without a family doctor, and new health concerns, including cancers, may go unnoticed until past the treatment stage.

Emergency room doctors the country also expressed concern about diagnosing more advanced cases of cancer, which could have been caught earlier by a family doctor.

Bouch said he hopes to see a regular influx of new doctors to replace older ones who are retiring. He knows of three or four local physicians who are preparing to step down from medical practice over the next year — and all of them have a complex patient load.

"People who were 40 back then (when the doctors took them on as patients) are 65-plus now. We all have changing health needs as we get older," he added.

Red Deer has also gained some medical specialists in recent months, including a neurologist, hematologist, two oncologists, an anesthesiologist, and pediatrician.

The city is still in dire need of more psychiatrists, however, as "mental health has taken a big hit" since the pandemic, said Bouch. None of the psychiatrists who are practising in the city now are taking new patients.