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Emergency Department

PMH hosts Family Medicine Residents’ Retreat

Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) was proud to host the provincial Family Medicine Residents’ Retreat, which took place in Brandon on September 23-24, 2022. The in-person event had been on hold for the past few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

PMH CEO Brian Schoonbaert was pleased with the event and was confident participants would leave with a much better understanding of the many physician practice opportunities available in rural Manitoba.

“We believe that the lifestyle choices new physicians seek can be found in our rural settings. Our landscapes offer open prairies, serene and bustling communities, many lakes, small ‘mountains,’ numerous walking, hiking and biking trails, and close access to both provincial and national parks. We hope that recruits recognize what we already know; living and working in rural settings can be very rewarding!

Over 90 family medicine residents attended the weekend gathering, which featured information sessions on breastfeeding, geriatric frailty, Medical Assistance in Dying, point of care ultrasound and physician billing and finance information. An interactive job fair allowed many recruiters, including Regional Health Authorities and physician clinics throughout the province, to showcase their areas to prospective doctors.

PICTURED: Above- PMH was well-represented at the Residents’ Retreat Job Fair. From left are Dr. Mryanda Sopel, Dr. Nolan Brackenreed, Dr. Adrian Fung and Dr. Leah Koetting. At left, Residents get some suturing practice in while at right, it’s a special arts and crafts painting project as part of a team building exercise.

Schoonbaert says PMH will stay in touch with those interested in rural medicine.

“Within our health region alone, there’s lots to look forward to, including the construction of a new $127-million hospital in Neepawa and larger renovations planned for Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) that will add a new ICU, more medical beds, and an expansion to the neonatal ICU. There are also enhancements planned for the Westman Cancer Centre so that when paired with the BRHC upgrades, Brandon will become the intermediate care hub for western Manitoba.”

Some other smaller capital projects are planned for hospitals in Dauphin, Souris, Killarney and Virden, which will help enhance localized service delivery and improve access to quality patient care. There are other exciting developments and expansions which have been announced by Manitoba Health and Shared Health, including the construction of a new hospital in Portage and additions to hospitals in Steinbach, the Boundary Trails Health Centre in Morden/Winkler and Selkirk, to name a few.

Schoonbaert sincerely thanks all of those from PMH that helped to organize the event and represent the health region at various functions.

The last Residents’ Retreat was held in 2019 and hosted by Interlake/Eastern RHA.

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