After more than a decade meeting the medical needs of thousands of Regina residents, a clinic in the south end of the city is closing its doors.
Its owner says inadequate government support is to blame, and she thinks more clinic closures are likely to follow without change.
“I can count many times where I’ve taken an hour with a patient, and what I bring home for that hour, after I pay my expenses and overhead, is less than minimum wage,” Dr. Tomi Mitchell told Global News Thursday.
“We talk about a minimum wage for our valued front-line workers. Wake up Saskatchewan, we are in trouble.”
Mitchell penned a letter Tuesday to Pasqua South Medical Centre patients detailing her decision.
In it, she said “running a medical practice is extremely challenging as family practices are labour intensive. I have tried for years to find a solution to this dilemma, but some of the solutions are out of my control.”
“The past two years with the pandemic has really exposed the cracks in our system and I fear some of the cracks are beyond salvageable.”
The issue was brought to the legislature Thursday where opposition leader Ryan Meili suggested the closure is symptomatic of a larger trend in need of immediate addressing.
“Dr. Mitchell penned a heartbreaking letter to her patients. She’s closing her practice. What is this government’s plan to stop the exodus of health-care workers from our province caused by their actions at a time when we need their services more than ever?” Meili asked in question period, adding that Ministry of Health data shows a decline of 82 “fee for service” physicians between 2018 and 2021.
Premier Scott Moe responded by pointing out that his government has increased health-care spending in recent budgets, and that the number of physicians in Saskatchewan has increased since the Saskatchewan Party was first elected in 2007.
Mitchell said she tuned into the legislative action Thursday morning and that she was not impressed that Moe did not directly address her letter in his response.
“It was another slap in the face … I’m so used to it, but again, thank you Moe, you just proved my point. Thank you everyone. You’re not listening to us!” Mitchell said.
She added that while she had planned to close her clinic within 90 days of writing her letter, the government’s response in the chamber has prompted her to accelerate the timeline to within the next few weeks.
“This morning really sealed it for me. It’s done.”
Confronted on the issue in the rotunda Thursday, Merriman pointed to the fact that, overall, the number of practicing physicians has risen over the past three years.
When asked if paying doctors more is an option, he said that’s a decision to be made in coming contract negotiations.
The province’s current contract with the Saskatchewan Medical Association is set to expire on March 31, though it can be temporarily renewed as the contracts can sometimes take years to negotiate and different clinics have different payment arrangements.
Payments for general practice visits vary depending on the age of the patient, but start at $39.80 for a partial assessment and $75.70 for a full assessment.
“There are some challenges in rural Saskatchewan there are some challenges in the cities, and some challenges in the north,” Merriman said, adding efforts to expand virtual care could offer one solution.
“The best thing I can say is stay tuned, in a couple of weeks, and we’ll be able to provide some more information around our budget.”
Mitchell says, moving forward, she’s planning to stay in health-care with a new business venture. But that won’t be happening in Saskatchewan, where she predicts finding a family doctor will only become more difficult.
“I feel so bad for my patients who I’ve looked after for ten years,” she said. “They ask me ‘who am I going to see?’ I don’t have an answer for them. I don’t have an answer.”