Winkler clinic scaling back hours, losing three doctors

A doctor holds files in this undated stock photo.

A series of challenges have prompted a medical clinic in Winkler, Man. to temporarily cut back urgent care hours.

C.W. Wiebe Medical Centre said as of Wednesday, urgent care hours have been reduced to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The clinic was previously open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

“There are a couple of things that have happened in the last couple of years for sure,” said Jim Neufeld, the clinic’s executive director. “One is that nearly all of our physicians provide additional care at the hospital as well, including emergency coverage and other hospital care."

He said there's been increased services at the Boundary Trails Hospital, meaning the physicians are covering those services.

“Those are certainly needed services in the area, but that's taken away some time that we can allocate to our own urgent care service and our primary care needs," Neufeld.

He said the reduced hours are part of the plan to help doctors continue to work at the clinic while balancing needs at Boundary Trails Hospital.

“We thought the change that we made is as good of a choice we can make to make sure that we can have increased services at the hospital, which affects the whole area, and not really reduce things too much at the clinic,” he said.

The scaled-back hours are not the only issue impacting the clinic. Neufeld said C.W. Wiebe is losing three doctors this summer, leaving them with 42 physicians. He said recruitment is ongoing to help find replacements.

“We've been very fortunate that we've been able to attract as many physicians to the areas we have,” he said. “The area continues to grow, and the needs are always continuing to grow as well. And so we've been very much in the recruitment mode on an ongoing basis.”

Neufeld said the pandemic made it harder to recruit doctors to the area, though he adds the clinic is close to having some more physicians join later this year.

He acknowledges the summer will be difficult for the clinic, but he is hopeful the fall will be better.

“We certainly hope and we'll continue to work at getting that resolved as soon as we can,” Neufeld said. “We're kind of fortunate out here with the variety and amount of services that we can provide in our rural location. And we've got a good practice and opportunities to recruit people too. And we're confident that we'll get this result in the near future.”

The clinic said the reduced hours will be in place until Sept. 30.