PMH begins site visits with MLPIMG physicians destined to practice next fall

When it comes to doctor recruitment within Prairie Mountain Health, the region’s Recruitment and Retention Team feels it’s ‘all hands-on deck’. Which is to say, it truly does take representatives from the province, region and individual communities to all work together to promote the benefits of living and working in rural Manitoba.

One of the initiatives the region utilizes as part of overall physician recruitment strategies includes the provincial Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG). The MLPIMG Program assists foreign-trained doctors in obtaining their medical license to be able to practice as a family physician in Manitoba. PMH has sponsored seven physicians during the year 2025-2026 and has begun individually introducing each of the candidates to the communities they will be practicing in following their successful graduation from the program in summer of 2026.

Tamara Kemp-Boulet, Physician Recruitment and Retention Coordinator for the health region says the physicians were designated to be placed at various sites within PMH communities that require additional physician resources.

“The seven internationally trained doctors have signed return-of-service agreements requiring them to work in rural communities within the health region,” she said. “Communities allocated for this graduating class include Killarney, Minnedosa, Ste. Rose, Russell, Rossburn and Shoal Lake starting in the fall.”

Husband and wife Shamsudeen and Olamide Usman are among those who were recruited by PMH through the University of Manitoba Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates.

The Usmans will finish the one-year training program this June in Winnipeg before they begin practicing family medicine at the Tri-Lake Health Centre in Killarney in fall.

Doctors Karen Aquino and Moazzam Raza will be based in Minnedosa, Dr. Saleema Arif will practice in Ste. Rose, Dr. Porimol Debnath will be in Russell and Dr. Ana Hernandez will provide care in Rossburn and Shoal Lake, Kemp-Boulet said.

All of these communities were identified as having a shortage of doctors, and recruitment efforts continue for other areas in PMH, she said.

PMH organizes site visits for new physicians, so they can get accustomed to relocating to an area that suits their needs. These visits can include checking out daycares, schools, recreation activities, touring the health-care facility and meeting with council members and real estate agents, Kemp-Boulet said.

In 2025, the region sponsored eight physicians to participate in the MLPIMG program. They were placed in the communities of Swan River (3), Roblin (2), Neepawa, Virden and Souris.

In return for regional sponsorship, MLPIMG doctors agree to practice in their respective communities for four years. The Program is supported by the University of Manitoba —Max Rady College of Medicine, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, Shared Health-Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office, and Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care.

Take Our Kids to Work Day offers students a glimpse at health care careers

Take Our Kids to Work Day (TOKTW), a national program, occurred on November5, 2025, where Grade 9 (or equivalent) students were hosted by parents, friends, relatives and volunteers at workplaces across the country. The program supports career development by helping students connect school, the world of work, and their own futures.  Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) has been supportive of this day and accommodates requests for students wishing to enter the healthcare industry.  A total of 109 students were welcomed into programs/services within PMH spending the day in the workplace with a parent, relative, friend or volunteer experiencing and learning about the world of work as they begin to explore possible career paths.

This annual day has been a successful recruitment initiative that provides students with a look into the healthcare system. Interest in the initiative remains high every year, with 103 student requests last year and 67 students participating in 2023.

 A big thank you to everyone who took time out of their day to engage with students.  The willingness to share your knowledge and experience is meaningful and very inspiring for the students.   

BRHC NEW Internal Medicine Unit Now Hiring

Internal Medicine Unit – Brandon Regional Health Centre – Set to open early 2026.

Your NEW Work Environment

Where complexity meets compassionate care, in the Internal Medicine Unit, you will find collaboration among physicians, nurses, and specialists, caring for patients with a wide range of chronic and acute conditions.

Our multidisciplinary team includes a physician and a physician assistant, as well as 12-hour CRN coverage. Additional support is available for staff (i.e., educators, social workers) working together to deliver compassionate, high-quality care in a state-of-the-art environment.

Family-centred care is at the heart of everything we do, while innovation and advanced technology combine with empathy to deliver exceptional outcomes. The Unit also offers opportunities for ongoing professional education, supporting growth and excellence across all disciplines.

Patient-Centered Design

The new 30-bed, Internal Medicine Unit in the new Critical Care Centre was designed with patients, their families, and care teams in mind. Each spacious single room has a private bathroom and shower. The room features a ceiling track lift to support patient safety and comfort, large windows that provide natural light, and advanced technology for enhanced monitoring and communication. Ergonomically designed workspaces help our staff provide the best possible care in a safe and efficient environment.

Education

• Paid Training – Cardiac Rhythm Course (can be obtained after hire)

For hiring and training information, contact:

Kayla Roos, Health Services Manager

[email protected]

204-578-4645

BRHC Critical Care Centre Hiring

Critical Care Centre – Brandon Regional Health Centre – Set to open early 2026.

Your NEW Work Environment

Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

The Critical Care Centre at Brandon Regional Health Centre provides specialized, 24-hour intensive care services for critically ill or injured patients from across the Westman region and beyond. As the only Intensive Care Unit (ICU) between Winnipeg and Regina, the 16-bed unit plays a vital role in ensuring patients throughout western Manitoba have access to advanced, life-saving care close to home.

Our multidisciplinary critical care team includes physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, dietitians, physiotherapists, and professional support staff—working together to deliver compassionate, high-quality care in a state-of-the-art environment.

Family-centered care is at the heart of everything we do, while innovation and advanced technology combine with empathy to deliver exceptional outcomes. The Centre also offers opportunities for ongoing professional education, supporting growth and excellence across all disciplines.

Patient-Centered Design

The new Critical Care Centre was designed with patients, families, and care teams in mind. Each spacious single room features a ceiling track lift to support patient safety and comfort, large windows that provide natural light, and advanced technology for enhanced monitoring and communication. Ergonomically designed workspaces help our staff provide the best possible care in a safe and efficient environment.

Training/Orientation and Incentives

• Paid Critical Care Nursing Orientation Program (CCNOP) training opportunity available for LPNs & RNs with 1 year acute care experience.
• Mentorship available
• Paid orientation shifts for qualified Critical Care Nurses
• Recruitment Grants / Relocation Assistance available
• Critical Care premiums available in addition to base salary & shift premiums

The Centre maintains strong partnerships with the University of Manitoba’s professional health programs, supporting education and training for the next generation of health professionals. We also collaborate with the WRHA Cardiac Sciences Program at St. Boniface Hospital and with ICUs in Winnipeg to ensure coordinated, expert care for our patients.

For hiring and training information, contact:

Sheilagh Remillard, Health Services Manager

[email protected]

204-578-4170

Apply now visit careers.pmh-mb.ca

Hear first hand from an ICU nurse

PMH Midwifery Team Welcomes New Staff

Prairie Mountain Health’s midwifery program is pleased to welcome two new midwives. Sophie Delaurier and Karisa Minary have joined the team and bring the current complement of midwives in PMH up to five. The new midwives are excited to be part of the team providing services within the region which includes offering prenatal, birth, postpartum and newborn care.

Born and raised in Brandon, Minary says when the midwifery program opened at the University of Manitoba, she knew it aligned with her career aspirations.

“I’ve always had a strong passion for the sciences and biology, which led me to complete a Bachelor of Science at Brandon University while exploring different healthcare paths,” Minary said.

“During that time, a family member’s experience with a midwife introduced me to the profession and its unique blend of clinical skill, advocacy, and relationship-based care. I knew the program aligned perfectly with my hopes for a meaningful, hands-on healthcare career supporting families through such an important life transition.”

Delaurier, who hails from Dauphin, had some prior experience working in different health care fields within PMH. She wanted to stay close to home and chose a career path that was meaningful to her.

“I always wanted to work in healthcare but was never really sure what field. I found out about the midwifery program through my sister’s suggestion, went for it and ended up falling in love with the work, and the unique aspects of my job!”

As Minary acknowledges, midwifery has a strong focus on compassionate and patient-centred care.

“Midwifery is a unique profession helping pregnant people through a stressful time. I am happy to give back to my community.”

Midwifery is traditionally holistic, combining an understanding of the social, emotional, cultural, spiritual, psychological and physical aspects of a woman’s reproductive experience. Midwives promote wellness in women, babies and families, both as autonomous practitioners and in collaboration with other health care providers. With midwifery care, the woman is the centre of the childbirth experience and a great influence on the health and well-being of herself and her family.

PMH continues recruitment efforts to fill two remaining open midwifery positions. Additional information about these positions can be found here: Careers – Prairie Mountain Health

As part of ongoing midwifery recruitment initiatives, PMH continues to offer clinical training and mentorship opportunities as well as participation in additional recruitment activities, including attendance at career fairs, conferences and promotion through social media.

More information about midwifery services can be found on the PMH website here: Midwifery Services – Prairie Mountain Health

Therapy Services Outreach Day

On October 18, 2025, Prairie Mountain Health hosted 46 high school and undergraduate students in the Brandon Regional Health Centre Therapy Services department. The Therapy Services Outreach Day was intended to showcase the professions of Audiology, Occupational Therapy, Speech-Language Pathology, Respiratory Therapy, Physiotherapy and the Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services by having students learn and try out clinical skills.

Students cycled through eight stations where they completed activities like teaching each other to walk like different animals (preschool physiotherapy), making a finger splint or measuring each other for wheelchairs (occupational therapy), reviewing an audiological case study (audiology), teaching sign language or completing activities with ear plugs (teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing), mixing liquids to different thicknesses to evaluate swallowing (speech-language pathology), sizing up crutches and walkers to teach mobility (physiotherapy), and intubating a mannequin (respiratory therapy).

Most students were from the Prairie Mountain Health region. A few students who joined from other Manitoban health regions and one student from Saskatchewan joined the event.

Feedback from the students was very positive. One student said “The small groups of people allowed me to participate, ask questions, and understand to the best of my ability! Everyone was so lovely and so educated I loved learning!”.  Many students wanted further information on training and wanted more time at the stations to keep trying out their skills.

Clinicians helping out with the event showcased their skills and had meaningful engagement with students who may become future health care professionals. Kortney Blosha, Respiratory Therapist said “This has been one of the most effective recruitment events I have ever done”. Many of the Clinicians indicated they found students were very engaged and eager to come back for further shadowing opportunities.

Due to the success of the event, the Prairie Mountain Health management team will consider hosting events like this again in the future as a way to promote awareness about the various allied health care careers. These professions offer meaningful, stable, well-paying work for students looking to become future health care professionals.

If anyone is interested in learning more about how to become a health care professional as listed above, they are welcome to reach out to [email protected] to learn more.

Swan River Valley steps forward again to host fall medical student weekend

Swan River hosted another medical student Rural Interest Group (RIG) weekend on October 3-5 for 26 first and second-year medical students.  Students were exposed to ‘hands on stations’ such as casting and suturing with physician preceptors from Swan River and Brandon.  The preceptors provided many opportunities for the students to ask questions about practicing in a rural community and what work life balance could look like. PMH also provided an Indigenous Health presentation, which concluded with a smudging ceremony at the Swan Valley Health Centre.

Members of the Swan Valley Medical Professional Recruitment and Retention Committee (SVMPRRC) provided an afternoon and evening of local activities such as boating, fishing and hiking to allow the students the opportunity to experience recreational options in the Swan Valley area.  PMH collaborated with the community to arrange the weekend for the students.  The entirety of the weekend was funded by SVMPRRC and will continue as an annual event. 

Tamara Kemp-Boulet, PMH Physician Recruitment and Retention Coordinator, says the community once again went above and beyond to host an excellent weekend experience.

“RIG is an excellent opportunity for students who are early in their education to gain both hands on experience in areas such as casting and suturing, but also have the opportunity to understand what a rural physician practice could look like.  There have been several times that RIG weekends have been an influencing factor on a student to consider rural family medicine.   We are grateful to this community for all of their efforts and working with us to provide this opportunity to the students.” 

Prairie Mountain Health also partnered with the SVMPRRC to host a RIG workshop in Swan River in early February. Some 19 first and second-year medical students from the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine participated in the first rendition. RIG workshop events were also held in late January 2025 within the communities of Brandon and Killarney, where PMH hosted a record-breaking 75 students between the two rural centres at that time.

PMH hosts Family Medicine Residents Retreat

Some 128 family medicine residents gathered in Brandon from September 19-21 as the University of Manitoba held its annual Family Medicine Residents Retreat. The weekend retreat, hosted this year by Prairie Mountain Health, expands on education and networking initiatives and highlights potential employment opportunities.

A ‘career fair’ was one of the highlights of the event, where Regional Health Authorities (RHAs), medical clinics, community recruitment committees, and other support businesses throughout the province showcased employment and lifestyle opportunities for physicians to consider once they complete their education. PMH Physician and Recruitment Team member Darlene Gray says the physician recruitment and retention team was pleased to make connections with participants and showcase what the region has to offer.

“Many family medicine residents don’t realize what rural communities have to offer or how close they often are to larger centres,” Gray stated. “This is why events such as the Residents Retreat and other initiatives we coordinate throughout the year with the University of Manitoba/ Family Medicine, like Rural Week (in May) and Student Rural Interest Group (January/February), are so important for us.  We take every opportunity to extol the virtues of living and working in rural Manitoba.”

Gray says the region builds on these event connections and continues to emphasize that people need to experience and enjoy opportunities in the region.

“We often hear comments like, “Oh, you have that here?” — usually in reference to services these students didn’t expect to find outside a larger city.  Residents often comment on the strong teamwork and camaraderie that exists in rural medicine. One of our strengths collectively, is showing off our lifestyle opportunities and what we offer within our diverse region. And how rewarding and fulfilling rural practice can be. No matter where a physician is from connecting them with our communities is key.

Gray says there are family questions about schools, extra-curricular activities, and other supports to see what exists in rural Manitoba.

“That’s why we’re very proud of our community partnerships. Health care recruitment, including physician recruitment, is ‘everybody’s business’. The region often recruits a person for a health care position and, in some cases, needs to connect a person’s spouse to another job in a community. We continue collaborating with all of  our stakeholders.”

PMH thanks event sponsors, which include: The communities of Deloraine-Winchester, Glenboro, Grandview, Hamiota, Killarney, Neepawa, Minnedosa, Rossburn, Virden, the Swan Valley Medical Professional Recruitment and Retention Committee, Yellowhead Medical Clinic (Shoal Lake) and the City of Brandon.

Dr. Adrian Fung, Chief Medical Officer for PMH, echoed the theme for the event, which was: ‘Rural Medicine, Endless Horizons’.

“We’ll make a point of following up on conversations about practice options, such as within our Emergency Departments, Health Centres, the Brandon Minor Injury and Illness Clinic, and specialty practices of family medicine. We have new construction well underway to expand services at Brandon Regional Health Centre, a new hospital being built in Neepawa, a relatively new Emergency Department and Cancer Care Unit in Dauphin and a very busy Primary Care Centre in Swan River. We have a lot to offer,” Dr. Fung stated.

Eight New International Medical Graduates Recruited to PMH

Physician recruitment efforts continue within Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) region. Collaborating with the Province, Shared Health and community partners, PMH continues to strategically enhance access to physician and primary care services within the Region. One of the initiatives the region utilizes as part of overall physician recruitment strategies includes the provincial Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG).        The MLPIMG Program assists foreign-trained doctors in obtaining their medical license to be able to practice as a family physician in Manitoba.

“During the past year, the region sponsored eight physicians to participate in the MLPIMG program” said Treena Slate, PMH CEO. “After much consideration, physicians that successfully graduated from the program were placed at various sites within PMH communities that require additional sufficient physician resources.”

The newly recruited physicians for communities are:

Swan River

• Dr. Uche Adediji
• Dr. Toyin Oluwatuyi
• Dr. Oghenekevwe Ekrebe (early September start)

Neepawa

• Dr. Louis Eleche

Souris

• Dr. Rilwan Azeez for Souris (mid-September start)

Roblin

• Dr. Anahita Yousefiadib
• Dr. Zoia Khattak

Virden

• Dr. Sylvia Oranika

In return for regional sponsorship, MLPIMG doctors agree to practice in their respective communities for four years. The Program is supported by the University of Manitoba —Max Rady College of Medicine, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba, Shared Health-Health Care Recruitment and Retention Office, and Manitoba Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care.

“Retention and recruitment of staff, including doctors, is our top priority,” stated Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “I want to welcome and thank these new doctors for joining our incredible Manitoba workforce. I wish them well as they begin providing this essential care throughout Prairie Mountain Health”.

In 2024, five MLPIMG physicians were placed in the communities of Deloraine, Grandview, Russell, Ste. Rose and Virden. In 2023, MLPIMG physicians were placed in Glenboro, Hamiota, Russell, Swan River and Virden (2).

During the next rotation, which is already underway, PMH is sponsoring seven more MLPIMG physicians who commenced their training program this past June. If successful, they will be able to commence practice within the health region next fall (2026).

Summer Learning in Swan River

It’s summertime, and for some eager students, early exposure to health care careers can be a valuable experience that influences their future decisions. Discover Health Careers Manitoba (formerly the ‘Home for the Summer’ program) offers term positions to students within the health region to provide a ‘hands-on’ experience in clinical, hospital or healthcare site environments that apply to their areas of training. The program initially started with medical students and extended to nursing and allied healthcare students (including career areas like public/community health nursing and pharmacy). PMH and Shared Health cost share the initiative.

In Swan River, at the Primary Care Clinic, two local students have been active participants since May.

Brittan Yaschyshyn,  is a Midwife student, originally from Swan River. She has been working in the Clinic’s  front administration area, attending to patient care, booking appointments, dealing with tasks, and making specialist appointments.  She also has been able to a pair up with physicians and help with history and physicals for prenatal care, updating prenatal records and sitting in on prenatal care with the physicians. 

Abby Facundo is a  Nursing student from Swan River.  She has been shadowing the LPN at the clinic and has been undertaking tasks like rooming patients, taking vitals, and updating electronic medical records with chronic disease.

Both students will complete their terms in August and will be returning to University in the Fall.

PMH offered 26 approved positions this year across the region in Pharmacy, Primary Care, Mental Health, Therapy Services, Acute Care, Public Health, and Nutrition Services. For first and second-year medical students, PMH sponsored 10 positions in Neepawa, Virden, Deloraine and Brandon (in Brandon the areas include Anesthesia, Obstetrics-Gynecology, General Surgery, Psychiatry, Radiology, the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Ophthalmology and Hospitalists).