PMH making physician recruitment gains: 32 doctors recruited in last year

Through proactiveness, persistence and partnerships, Prairie Mountain Health (PMH) has made gains in filling physician vacancies over the last year. Dr. Adrian Fung, PMH Chief Medical Officer, says the vacancy picture is improving, with 32 doctors recruited to work within PMH communities since last April. He says this is a credit to the region’s recruitment team and continued collaboration with health-care partners and stakeholders.

“About a year ago, we were short about 87 doctors, which, at the time, made some headlines. Since then, we’ve worked hard to recruit and retain physicians here. In the last year, we’ve recruited 32 new physicians, which is about a 30 percent improvement in our physician shortage rate. We are making headway, but we’ll continue to push ahead as there is much more work to do,” Fung stated.

Since last April, PMH has successfully recruited 17 doctors within Brandon who are either specialists, hospitalists or both. The region has also recruited 15 family physicians to Brandon, Dauphin, Deloraine, Grandview, Hamiota, Killarney, Neepawa, Ste. Rose and  Virden.

PMH hired an additional physician recruitment coordinator about a year ago and now has two full-time staff dedicated to recruitment and retention. They are supported by other medical services team administration staff. The team works closely with the provincial health care recruitment and retention office.

Dr. Fung acknowledges that the challenges in recruiting exist across the country and even globally. Like other health regions, PMH went through staff retention challenges during the peak and immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Doctors, like all health-care professionals, went through extreme stressors including burnout. At the moment, physician retention is impacted by those reaching retirement age.

 “It’s not a secret, we have to work extremely hard to sell ourselves. What makes this a better place to live and work is what we have to offer collectively within communities, our lower costs of living, and our natural attractions. We will always be willing to explore new ideas, because we will always be in a position where we need health-care professionals.”

There’s been a lot of work on recruitment provincially, regionally, and locally. Community engagement continues to push success.

“We recently did a presentation to Brandon City Council through their Economic Development Board to partner on new physician recruitment support initiatives. We continue to have communities involved with our medical student workshops (Rural Week in May and Student Rural Interest Group in January). If communities have ideas, we want to listen,” he stated.

Dr. Fung says 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. Additional family questions about schools, extra-curricular activities, and other support also exist.

“We’re very proud of our community partnerships. One of our strengths is showing off our lifestyle opportunities and what we offer within our diverse region. No matter where a physician is from, connecting them with communities is key. We will continue to build on these connections in the future. We’ll continue to emphasize that people should come and enjoy our good nature!”

What else is the region doing in physician recruitment?

• PMH has strong partnerships with the University of Manitoba and well-established Residency Programs (Brandon Satellite Campus and Parkland Family Medicine Residency Unit, based in Dauphin), which have provided exceptional opportunities for physicians to train in rural settings and have further increased the number of physicians who remain to practice in rural and more remote communities. The Brandon program has been training physicians for rural opportunities for 12 years, and Dauphin’s site recently celebrated its 30th year of training in 2023.
  
  In Neepawa, a two-year medical residency training program commenced in July 2024. The U of M Residency Program, based within the Beautiful Plains Medical Clinic, started with two Year 1 Residents, who will graduate in 2026.

• PMH participates in two annual medical student recruitment initiatives for first- and second-year U of M medical students. The Student Rural Interest Group workshop is held at the end of January and  Rural Week takes place at the end of May. These student-led initiatives promote the career and lifestyle opportunities that rural healthcare centres and communities offer. We held two separate rural interest group weekends for the first time this year. In late January, RIG workshops were held in Brandon and Killarney. It featured 75 students, the most ever. In early February, we held a separate workshop in Swan River, in partnership with the local recruitment and retention committee in Swan River, which drew the interest of 19 students.

• PMH continues to sponsor physicians through the provincial Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates (MLPIMG). The ‘IMG Program’ assists foreign-trained doctors in obtaining their medical licenses to be able to practice as primary care (family) physicians in Manitoba. IMG physicians agree to practice in their respective communities for four years in return for regional sponsorship. The Program is supported by the University of Manitoba —Max Rady College of Medicine, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba and Manitoba Health. In 2023/2024, these communities included Swan River, Russell, Virden, Hamiota, and Glenboro. All of the physicians commenced work in September/October 2023. In 2024-2025, eight physicians are going through the Program and will be placed in PMH communities later this fall. These include Swan River (3), Roblin (2), Virden, Neepawa and Souris.

• Continuing to recruit and retain Physician and Clinical Assistants (PAs) (CAs) in the region. Currently, we utilize these positions in the BRHC Hospitalist Program, PMH Surgical Program, BRHC Anesthesia Program, BRHC Renal Program, and Acute Care Medicine (rural) Program.

• PMH continues to attend special recruitment events throughout the year, including the annual Provincial Family Medicine Residents’ Retreat. In the fall of 2025, the region will play host to the event in Brandon. The interactive job fair affords many recruiters, including Regional Health Authorities and physician clinics throughout the province, to showcase their respective areas to prospective doctors. PMH makes great connections and stays in touch with those interested in rural medicine.