Hundreds of Souris residents to be left without a family doctor

One physician out of three in the town of Souris is moving on.

The Souris Medical Associates announced that the doctor will be leaving their practice at the end of June, which will result in over 700 patients not having a family doctor.

“This is a crisis that we’ve dealt with before,” says Souris Mayor Darryl Jackson. “We’ve got a committee struck to deal with recruiting one or even two more doctors. We would like to have a complement of four if we could.”

Jackson said the committee is also looking for nurse practitioners to help lighten the workload.

“The downside of a nurse practitioner is they can’t do emergency calls evenings and weekends,” Jackson adds. “So that just leaves the other two doing that or we have to close down our emergency facilities.”

Many in the community have expressed questions and concerns about what this means for those needing care, ranging from filling prescriptions for elderly patients that are unable to travel, to the impact the shortage will have on emergency services.

Prairie Mountain Health has issued a statement to CTV News, saying in part that it, “continues to actively recruit to fill both current and anticipated vacancies over the next few months,” citing an upcoming recruitment drive hosting 27 first-year medical students in the region.

“I think we’re on our own,” Jackson says. “We’re not gonna wait in, let’s say, last place. We’re going to try and find doctors on our own.”