Steinbach council joins push for rural doctor program at Brandon University

Steinbach has joined nine other Manitoba cities calling on the province to create a new medical campus in Brandon to address rural doctor shortages.

On Oct. 21, Steinbach city council unanimously voted to co-sign an Association of Manitoba Municipalities Cities Caucus letter, which recommended creating a four-year medical campus at Brandon University, in partnership with the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine. The new program would create a dedicated stream of rural doctor training.

“We need a long-term approach and the long-term approach is having Manitoba students that are committed to rural medicine, get trained in our province,” Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk told council.

He said while the province added 10 medical residency seats to Brandon University in July, that number needs to triple. If the physician shortages don’t get addressed, it will compromise health care in communities, Funk said.

“It’ll be a challenge for our communities to continue to attract people, to grow and to have a quality of life,” he said.

The Oct. 14 letter also recommended the province create an admissions system in Brandon that would prioritize applicants who intend to pursue rural medicine and offer reduced tuition for students who commit to return to their home communities once they graduate.

Coun. Susan Penner moved the motion to sign the letter. Creating a Brandon medical campus is an opportunity for the province to make a “tangible and lasting difference” on Manitoba health care and increases chances graduates will stay in rural areas.

“Too many Manitobans, including myself and my family, are currently without a doctor and are not receiving the care they need,” Penner said.

Sharilyn Knox, Portage la Prairie mayor and the caucus’ chair, said doctor shortages have often been a key and reoccurring issue for the co-signing cities.

The caucus represents 10 cities, including Winnipeg, Selkirk and Winkler.

Having doctor-training programs outside of Winnipeg can help retain and recruit doctors in rural areas, she said.

“We want to broaden that horizon. And we feel that sometimes if people are trained in rural areas, they’re going to stay in rural areas,” she said.

Knox said this is the first time the cities caucus has specifically asked the province to create a program in Brandon.

While she’s not expecting an immediate impact if created, Knox views a potential Brandon University medical campus as important to prepare future generations of doctors and strengthening provincial health care.

“We seem to be building facilities, so we’ve got to make sure that we can staff them and move them forward,” Knox said.

Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets said adding more rural training opportunities is important when addressing the province wide doctor shortage.

While the Brandon medical school program is a good idea, doctors and educators need to be involved in the planning and have support in freeing up time to teach, she said.

”The Brandon hospital, for example, has struggled to maintain physician coverage for critical services like ER, obstetrics, and emergency surgery, and that must be addressed to ensure physicians have the ability to provide high quality teaching without risking patient care disruptions,” she said in a statement to The Carillon.

Manitoba has many training opportunities for doctors in rural communities during family residency. But that happens after medical school, a Doctors Manitoba spokesperson said. Students can also choose to do clinical rotations in Brandon for their medical degree.

Manitoba gained 164 new doctors between April 30, 2024 and April 30 2025, a record high after the previous year’s 133 doctors, according to The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba’s annual report.

The province has a shared vision in wanting more rural doctors in Manitoba, said Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara.

They acknowledge staffing needs to continue to increase in Brandon and rural Manitoba if a medical campus was set up.

“The way that we ensure that there are enough doctors to train other doctors is by getting more people on the front lines,” Asagwara said.

The province will continue working and having discussions with the cities caucus about the Brandon medical campus, they said.