St. Mary’s feeling left in the lurch over doctor shortage
By Mark Squibb | Vol. 13 No. 3 (February 6, 2020)
St. Mary’s Deputy Mayor Steve Ryan said that as of Friday, Jan. 31, the St. Mary’s region is without a doctor for at least the next three months.
“We had a doctor here for about a year-and-a half, her name was Dr. Shada Dujali,” said Ryan, referring to the last fulltime doctor to serve the community and surrounding area.
After Dr. Dujali moved to Carbonear, the clinic in St. Mary’s was without its own doctor.
“We had no doctor really, so what they did is bring in a ‘fill-in doctor,’” said Ryan, who is part of a local committee that has been lobbying Eastern Health and the provincial government on health issues for several years.
The fill-in physician was a retired doctor, Marshall Godwin. But on Jan. 31, Dr. Godwin left for a three-month vacation in Portugal.
Ryan and his fellow committee members had a conference call with Larry Alteen an executive with Eastern Health, on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
“We had the meeting with Dr. Alteen on Wednesday, and we’re not happy with what they’re offering,” said Ryan. “The solution they came up with is that they’re hoping to bring two doctors to Holyrood. They haven’t got them signed yet, but they’re working on it. They’re going to come to Holyrood and work in an office in Holyrood, and they’re going to come this way for two days a week. But what I’ve said to Dr. Alteen is that if those two doctors go to Holyrood, they’re going to be overwhelmed with Holyrood… They’re hoping that when they get to Holyrood, it’s not going to be busy and they’re going to be able to come to St. Mary’s for two days. They’re hoping. They’re grasping at straws.”
Ryan said Eastern Health’s solution isn’t one.
“From Peter’s River to North Harbour, we have almost 2,500 people. And as you know, the majority of people in those communities are older. They need doctors more now than they ever did,” Ryan said. “They’re just trying to put a band-aid on a wound. We feel forgotten about.”
Just about a 45-minute jaunt from St. Mary’s is the community of Trepassey. Until February last year when he retired, Dr. Thomas McGarry served patients both in Trepassey and St. Mary’s.
Ryan said that while access to health care has been a concern in the region for the last number of years, the retirement of McGarry amplified the problem. He said that shortage makes accessing even basic health care services difficult.
“There are stories here of people having to go to emergency, waiting 10 or 12 hours, to get a prescription filled for a urinary track infection. It’s just crazy,” said Ryan.
He even has his own personal story.
“I had a flu over Christmas. And I couldn’t get any appointment. So, I said, ‘It’s only the flu.’ I didn’t want to bump anyone else who had a more serious situation. And what happened, is I got an ear infection. I have tubes in my ears, so I have to go and see a specialist on Wednesday, and I have to go to an outpatient specialist on Thursday, which I would not have to do if I had gone and got treated.”
Placentia— St. Mary’s MHA Sherry Gambin-Walsh said she is well aware of the situation unfolding.
“This has been an oncoming concern,” said Gambin-Walsh, who said she has been in constant contact with both Eastern Health and the committee. “Every rural community in Newfoundland and Labrador wants a doctor full-time. That’s the desire throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. So, St. Mary’s is not unique in their request, nor are they unique in their challenges. And the challenges that they are facing are actually getting closer and closer to the urban area. One of my children (in St. John’s) doesn’t have a family physician. Hasn’t had one for years. And I was without one for six months last year.”
The MHA said she is confident in Eastern Health’s ability to address the issue, both in the long run and in the immediate term. For now and until March 9, she said, a doctor will make a weekly visit to St. Mary’s. That will be followed by a fill-in doctor for two weeks, and then a one day a week visit until the summer.
“Eastern Health is truly and honestly working with the resources that are available to try to fill this gap. So, they’ve identified this gap, they are aware of it, and are actively working to try to fill it. And I’m confident that they will,” she said. “But I do understand the frustration of the people, and they want consistency in care. And if we have two physicians that are going to go out there (from Holyrood), one to two times a week, based on the need, there will be consistency of care, and that’s needed. Those physicians have agreed that they would provide services to St. Mary’s,” she added.
Gambin-Walsh said getting a full-time doctor to move to rural Newfoundland would be incredibly difficult.
“The new generation of physicians don’t want to live in rural Newfoundland. They just don’t want to live there… You can’t make a physician move into St. Mary’s and live there. You can’t make somebody work there. So, we’re trying to put together a model that meets the needs of the people.”
According to Gambin-Walsh, the sole practitioner model of healthcare is dying and not just in rural Newfoundland.
“The model for the solo family physician practise is changing across the country, and it’s changing around the world,” she said. “And the modern models of primary healthcare is very different. And there lies the issue and concern… So, the new model proposed by Eastern Health would have two MUN-trained family physicians work in the Holyrood area in July of 2020, so this application is already before the Family Physician Approval Committee. Our objective and goal is to recruit the physicians into the area to ensure that we do give the residents the healthcare that they need and desire, and use the models that are available today — including nurse practitioners.”
Nurse practitioners are “filling a huge void in Newfoundland and Labrador— and doing a good job I might add,” said the member.
Meanwhile, Ryan insists there’s only one right answer for St. Mary’s — and it’s not a doctor dropping in once or twice a week.
“Right now, we need somebody in that clinic five days a week… there’s no way around it,” he said. “I know of people who will not come to this community because of the doctor shortage. They’re older, they’re retired, some have houses here, but they’re living in CBS, they’re living elsewhere, because they’re afraid to come here in case something happens, and there’s no doctor.”
The Irish Loop Post reached out to Eastern Health multiple times, beginning Friday, Jan. 31, but did not receive confirmation or clarification regarding plans for health care service in St. Mary’s by deadline on Feb. 5.
