Estevan has received some relief with its physician shortage, as a new physician has arrived in the city.
Dr. Boye Adeboye was welcomed to Estevan last week. He will commence a family medical practice with the Estevan Medical Group in the hospital foundation’s medical building in the hospital this week.
Greg Hoffort, executive director of St. Joseph’s Hospital, said that Adeboye offers the community the services of a family physician.
“He’s a much-needed family physician that our community has been looking for and anxiously awaiting,” Hoffort told the Mercury. “We’re very pleased that he’s arrived in Estevan and is getting settled into the community.”
Adeboye was born in Nigeria, and then went to Russia for his medical program. He returned to Nigeria to start his career, and then moved to England, where he practised for 15 years before coming to Estevan.
He wanted a change after spending 15 years in England.
“I have friends who work in Canada, and what drew me to Estevan particularly was the hospital, because the hospital bears the same name as my high school,” said Adeboye with a laugh.
His initial impressions of the community have been positive. He has been meeting people and seeing what Estevan has to offer.
“It has all the amenities I need to survive,” said Adeboye.
He is also pleased that Estevan is close to the U.S. border, so he can live in one country and visit another any time he wants.
The people in the hospital and in the community have been very welcoming, he said. He made a site visit in February, and he was able to meet most of the people in the hospital at that time.
He has been able to meet people through a church, and has already participated in the annual Coal Country Run earlier this month.
“I’ve read a lot about the history of Estevan as well, how it’s developed over the years, the people, and how it was settled there. I think it’s got quite a lot of history that I’m going to like,” Adeboye said.
Hoffort added that in the time he has been recruiting, he’s never met someone who researched a community as much as Adeboye.
“He had a lot of information the first time that we met,” said Hoffort. “It was very impressive.”
The recruitment of Adeboye brings the physician count for Estevan to 10. Eight of them are general practitioners, and two are specialists, although one of the specialists does see patients.
“It’s no secret that we’ve had less than what we would feel is an appropriate number of physicians in Estevan,” said Hoffort. “So Dr. Adeboye’s arrival is very timely, and will be very well-received by the community, I’m sure, and certainly a step towards our goal of providing adequate physician services in Estevan.”
Two additional physicians are expected to arrive before the end of the month. They have passed the Saskatchewan assessment process, but their arrival is pending a license from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, a process that Hoffort said the hospital has no control over.
With Adeboye in place and two more physicians on the way, Hoffort said the hospital will be returning to normal operating hours for the emergency room, starting in early June. The hospital has had extended hours since mid-January because of the lack of medical doctors.
The hospital has not heard whether Dr. Mehdi Horri, who is an anesthesiologist, will have his licence reinstated, but it is anxiously awaiting news about his status.
