4 out of 5 Warman, Sask., doctors to leave city

By April, Warman, Sask., will have only one doctor seeing patients in the city of 10,000 people, after its four other doctors will have left and moved on to other endeavours. 

Warman mayor Sheryl Spence confirmed with CBC News that the four are leaving, two of whom will be gone by the end of January. The other two will be gone by the end of March.

"I'm very concerned that they're leaving. A community of 10,000 needs good medical care right here in the community," she said. "Warman is big enough to sustain doctors."

Warman is big enough to sustain doctors.- Mayor Sheryl Spence

Spence estimated that the four have been practicing in the city for "roughly five to eight years." And though she doesn't know all the reasons why they're leaving, she said part of it is to further their medical careers. 

One doctor is upgrading his or her education, while another one wants to move back to nearby Saskatoon and practise there, where his or her family lives, Spence said. 

"If there are other root causes, we want to know about them," she said. 

Despite the departures, she emphasized that the city's medical clinic will remain open, and that the doctor there will continue seeing patients.

As for bringing in future doctors, Spence said the city is forming a recruitment and attraction committee "to get doctors here and keep them here."

That committee will be working with the local chamber of commerce and likely with the Saskatoon Health Region, she said. "We want to solve this problem."

The city's most recent population estimate from December 2015 puts the count at 10,316 residents.

Warman is about 24 kilometres north-east of Saskatoon. 

When asked about the situation in Warman, the Practitioner Staff Affairs department at the Saskatoon Health Region emailed the following statement.

"In this case, we have been asked to provide assistance to the local Chamber of Commerce, and the owner of the clinic in development of their physician recruitment strategy. We collaborate with SaskDocs, the province's physician recruitment agency, to provide support in these situations."

Province says physician numbers increasing

The Ministry of Health said there are some communities in the province where there is a need, but overall physician resources are increasing.

"Since 2007, we have added more than 500 physicians to the province which represents a 23 per cent increase in family physicians, and a nearly 35 per cent increase in specialists," ministry spokesman Tyler McMurchy said in an email to CBC.

He said physicians' individual circumstances change, which can result in short-term shortages in communities.

"In these cases, our health regions work directly with the communities and local physicians to recruit into these vacancies to ensure an adequate number of providers serving the population," McMurchy said.

He added that programs implemented over the last number of years have shown positive results.