Task force to address doctor recruitment and retention

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This article was published 11/03/2024 (422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Steinbach task force will have less than three months to come up with recommendations for city council regarding doctor recruitment and retention.

Council, with Mayor Earl Funk absent, approved the task force members and terms of reference at their Tuesday meeting, almost eight months after Funk first proposed the idea.

Deputy Mayor Michael Zwaagstra led the meeting and shared the mandate of the task force with fellow councillors.

That mandate includes looking into the status of family medicine in Steinbach, looking into what other urban centres have done regarding doctor recruitment and retention, suggesting ways Steinbach could become more attractive to family doctors, examine existing measures that are already being taken and suggest new measures.

Zwaagstra told council that attracting and retaining doctors is a challenge not only in Steinbach but in the entire province and all of Canada.

“We have excellent doctors here in Steinbach. We have great health-care facilities. We have growth. We have the Bethesda (Regional Health Centre) expanding. The family medical centre, it’s a fairly new building, but we would like to have more doctors,” he said.

The task force, which will be chaired by Michelle Bezditny of Steinbach Economic Development will include councillors Susan Penner and Jac Siemens, and current Steinbach physicians Dr. Christo Minnaar and Dr. Karen Toews as well as retired physician Dr. Curtis Krahn. Two special resources to the task force include Fred Pauls from Steinbach Family Medical Centre and Robert Steeves from Southern Health.

Coun. Damian Penner made the motion to approve the task force expressing his confidence in the board members. Coun. Jake Hiebert seconded the motion, and pointed out this is not just a Steinbach issue.

“It’s not just an issue for the City of Steinbach, but also for surrounding areas,” he said. “I see it as a regional outreach and very timely and important.”

With a June 1 deadline to report to council, Zwaagstra recognized time is short but said it’s not meant to be a “long ongoing process”.

He also cautioned against pinning all their hopes on the committee.

“Obviously we’re not expecting that this will automatically solve all the problems in this area, the challenges are far beyond just our city, but I think it’s prudent for us to ask that question, of are there any things that we can do as a community to both recruit new doctors and also have current doctors stay as long as possible,” he said.