Leaders for the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) were in Estevan on Oct. 4 as part of the annual president's and vice-presidents' tour of the province.
Dr. Joanne Sivertson, who is the president of the SMA, and Dr. Siva Karunakaran, the SMA vice-president, visited the Energy City. Among those joining them was Dr. Andre Grobler, who practised in Estevan at one time.
Karunakaran made a presentation to local physicians and spoke with the media before the event.
“This has been a tradition going back many years, and we do this in the fall,” Karunakaran said. “The president or the vice-president take turns, or go together to all of the health regions in the province, and talk to the doctors about what we have been working on this year and what we are planning to do over the next year, and then we also discuss what they want to hear from us, and what their concerns are,” said Karunakaran.
Among the big concerns that he has heard during the tour is the federal government's proposed changes to small business taxes. Karunakaran said it has been an area of “grave concern” for members.
“It may change how we practice, and the organizing corporation, so we can get certain benefits,” said Karunakaran. “Among them are the maternity benefit, the sick time benefits and the pension plan, which are not provided currently.”
Income splitting is another aspect of the legislation that physicians are worried about, since physicians are able to split income with their spouses.
“This has been a good tool for recruitment, so this may affect our recruitment in the future for rural areas,” said Karunakaran.
Also a source of concern for physicians has been the provincial government's move to bring all of the health regions in the province together into one vast health authority.
Part of the problem is the fear of the unknown, he said.
“The SMA has been in consultation with the government for a standard three-person panel and they have also given feedback to the transition team,” said Karunakaran.
A physician advisory network has been established that has been meeting with the government regularly, and giving feedback on various areas of consultations.
“Members in rural areas appear to have concerns about service cuts, what will happen and what will stay,” said Karunakaran.
The SMA has also started contract negotiations with the provincial government. The negotiations are progressing slowly, he said, but the two sides have had a few meetings.
SMA members work hard, and need to be compensated appropriately, he said. If the SMA is to recruit physicians from elsewhere, then Saskatchewan needs to be competitive with other jurisdictions.
Karunakaran said the SMA has also been working on a new strategic plan, which he expects will be rolled out in January.
One of the areas that the SMA is focusing on is physician health. The SMA did a survey earlier this year with the members that found about 60 per cent of them expressed concerns with physical burnout, Karunakaran said.
A shortage of physicians used to be a big concern in the province. The situation has improved in many areas in recent years, but some communities still have a shortage of physicians, he said, and urban communities are short specialists.
“Generally I think the workload is heavy and the life is stressful, with the number of hours, whether we have enough people or not,” said Karunakaran.
In Estevan's case, the community is now down to eight general practitioners and two specialists. Karunakaran expected the local shortage would come up during the meeting that was part of the tour.
