The backlog is building up again at the Humboldt Clinic.
The practice, which went up to eight doctors in late November with the addition of Dr. Mishack Zwane, is back down to seven for at least six months.
Dr. Caswell Radabe, who has been in Humboldt since 2005, went on leave at the beginning of January.
"We found out in January that it would be an extended leave for at least six months," said Gail Ewen, office manager for the Humboldt Clinic.
Right now, it is expected that Radabe will return in June.
For the next few months, that leaves the clinic with seven doctors once again - not enough to handle the 30,000 people who seek medical care in Humboldt. It also leaves them temporarily unable to conduct clinic hours in Bruno and Middle Lake - communities Dr. Radabe would visit regularly to see patients.
"It's been difficult, needless to say," said Dr. Warren Huber, one of those seven doctors left. "(Dr. Radabe) has a very busy practice."
With eight doctors, they were starting to get rid of the backlog of appointments at the clinic.
"Unfortunately, Dr. Radabe's departure coming so quickly (after the arrival of Dr. Zwane), didn't allow us to get the backlog cleared up," Huber said.
And it's now building again.
At this point, Dr. Zwane is the only doctor taking new patients, and he is booked up to three to four weeks in advance, Ewen said.
Those without a family doctor - which for the next few months includes Dr. Radabe's patients - who wish to make an appointment can make one with Dr. Zwane, or are offered the cancellation board, Ewen noted. Those on the cancellation board can wait for an opening with a specific doctor, or for the first open appointment slot with any doctor at the clinic.
"We get quite a few people in (to see the doctors) off the cancellation board," Ewen said. "It does work. People have to be patient."
Every doctor at the clinic saves a few appointment slots every day to see people off the cancellation board, Ewen explained. And when the doctor on call is not at the hospital, he or she will see people off the cancellation board as well.
However, as Dr. Huber pointed out, it has become more difficult for the doctor on call to get away from the emergency room.
"The emergency room has become busier," he said, and the on-call doctor is spending most of his or her time there when they are on call.
Some of the things coming to the emergency department at the hospital are things that could come to the clinic, he admitted. However, there are also a lot of things "that really need to be seen at the hospital."
When the on-call doctor is tied up at the hospital during the day, that takes away from him or her seeing people at the clinic, Huber noted, so it backs up the process further.
What can all of us do to help, during this doctor shortage?
"Patience is certainly a virtue," Huber said. "We make every effort to get people in."
Huber said he knows some people are choosing not to wait to see a doctor in Humboldt, but to see doctors in other communities for issues that do not require an emergency room visit.
That certainly is an option available to people, Huber noted, if someone does not want to wait, or get on the cancellation list.
Huber believes seeking a family physician in Saskatoon is becoming more common for people now, as he has seen people more often identify Saskatoon physicians as their family doctors when seeking help at the emergency room in Humboldt.
Ewen admits that they have had requests to move charts to doctors in Saskatoon, as well.
Many of their patients, she said, were left without doctors over the past two years, as three doctors with very busy practices left the area. Some of those people still do not have a family doctor in Humboldt, as all but Dr. Zwane closed their practices to new patients last year.
"It was a major blow, losing three very busy people in short order," Huber said. "Of course, it's been extremely difficult to replace them."
However, Huber said, they are very hopeful that this doctor shortage in Humboldt won't last much longer.
There is now light at the end of the tunnel.
"We are very hopeful that at this time next year, we will have a much more reasonable complement of physicians," he stated.
"We have had ongoing discussions," Huber said, with individuals interested in coming to Humboldt. Some have some hurdles to clear to get to this country, he noted, adding that they are also in discussions with a local graduate who may be interested in joining the clinic in Humboldt.
But no new doctors will be arriving until August, he said, so they still have a few months of being short-staffed to go.
In the meantime, they are talking to two doctors who may be interested in doing locums in this area.
"We're still in the discussion stage. There's nothing definite yet," Huber said.
The doctors are also in discussions with the Saskatoon Health Region about additional assistance with emergency department coverage, he added.
"If we had more coverage of emergency, it frees people to practise at the clinic," Huber said. "And it takes a load off the emergency department, too."
There were about 1,000 more people living in Humboldt in 2011 than in 2010, according to numbers released by the Ministry of Health recently.
Huber said he was quite struck by that statistic.
"A thousand new people in Humboldt are difficult to absorb into an already overtaxed medical system," he said.
"When you look at the demands on the clinic, and the increasing numbers in emergency, I guess it fits," he said.
Though Huber had no exact statistics on how much emergency room visits have risen, he said he has noticed that he is seeing people at that emergency room who have never been to Humboldt before, like those working on construction projects in the area, and even residents from communities like Nokomis, Drake, Watrous, Wadena and Cudworth.
"I believe our traditional service area has about 30,000 people. That's expanded significantly," he feels.
Time on the board
The time someone might spend on the cancellation list, waiting to see a doctor, can vary.
"It has a lot to do with if we can reach them," Ewen pointed out.
They have tried people eight or 10 times, and unable to get a hold of them to tell them of an open appointment slot, move down the list and give it to someone else.
"Please give us a number where you can be reached if you're not at home," Huber said.
Sometimes, even if they are able to tell people about an appointment time, they cannot make it due to their work schedule or family commitments. That affects when they can see a doctor as well.
"Sometimes it can be a week," Ewen said of the time a name can spend on the cancellation list. But that is better than waiting up to four weeks to see a specific doctor at a specific time.
Most people are more understanding of the wait time this year than they were last year, Ewen indicated.
"We still have frustrated people, and we can understand why they are frustrated, but this is all we have to deal with," she said.
"We do our best, but obviously we can't please everyone," Huber stated.
