Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Rural and Remote Health Jared Clarke spoke outside the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital in Moose Jaw yesterday, sounding the alarm about burnout, stress and retirements, which he claims is causing an exodus of doctors.
“We've gotten word from doctors in the city that Moose Jaw is set to lose eight doctors this year,” said Clarke.
“Just today there was a suggestion that there might be another two leaving by the end of this year.”
Doctor shortage could leave thousands without care
Clarke primary care is an integral part of our healthcare system, and that the ability to deliver timely care to residents is hamstrung by massive client lists and poor access to family physicians.
“We know that some of these folks have three to four thousand clients at some of these clinics that are closing, and that’s huge,” said Clarke.
“Where will those patients go? We did phone around earlier this week to all the clinics in Moose Jaw and asked them if they were taking on new patients and not one of them said yes, so as these doctors leave and patients are orphaned, what do they do for healthcare?”
Clarke takes aim at current recruitment and retention efforts
Clarke called the loss of eight physicians “devastating” and cast doubts about the efficacy of the province’s current healthcare recruitment programs.
“What's their plan? The plan that they have been touting for the last two years is clearly not working if we're losing eight doctors this year,” said Clarke.
“I would encourage Moose Jaw residents to ask those questions to their MLAs.”
NDP proposes solutions
Clarke said a multi-pronged approach to easing the province’s recruitment and retention woes is needed, including finding methods to ensure doctors to stay local in the long-term, expanding the number of training seats to increase the number of doctors from within the province and improving hiring flexibility in the SHA.
“If a Moose Jaw resident, a student, goes off to U of S and gets trained as a family doctor, can we ensure that they have a place back here in in Moose Jaw?” he said.
“Right now, we hear from doctors — and other healthcare professionals — that flexibility doesn't exist in terms of making sure that they can come back to that to their community.”
He also suggested fast-tracking certifications for the approximately 500 foreign-trained doctors residing in the province.
Province second worst for family doctor losses
Clark cited data from the Canadian Institute for Health as evidence of the need for a change in policy, stating that the study in question found that four family doctors were recruited in 2023 compared to a loss of 26 that same year.
“We ranked second worst out of Canada in terms of how many new, and in our case, how many family doctors we lost.”
He said that over 200,000 Saskatchewanians lack a family physician, which puts undue strain on emergency rooms, increases wait times and points to a larger healthcare crisis.
Province defends record, slams NDP 'hysteria'
The Government of Saskatchewan weighed in on the issue, rebuking NDP claims in the following statement:
Our government recognizes the importance of having accessible healthcare services available throughout rural and remote communities, including smaller city centres. We will continue to work with our health partners in all communities across the province and embrace innovation in health care delivery.
The Saskatchewan health Authority (SHA) is actively working to fill current and upcoming physician vacancies, giving more people access to a family doctor. Since our Health Human Resources Action Plan was launched in September 2022, nearly 512 physicians have established practice in the province. This includes nearly 263 family physicians and 249 specialists (as of March 31, 2025).
Since the launch of the Health Human Resource (HHR) Action plan, Moose Jaw has seen an additional 21 healthcare professionals hired under the rural and remote recruitment incentive.
The SHA has implemented several strategies to stabilize and enhance capacity in several communities, including the Virtual Physician Program, Point-of-Care Testing, and various health-care human resource initiatives. We continue to receive positive feedback from rural physicians, local leadership, and community members about these initiatives that we will continue to build on in the best interest of Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health continues to work with the SHA, the University of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Healthcare Recruitment Agency and other health system partners to improve physician recruitment and retention. This includes expanded medical residency seats and post-graduate medical residency training sites in Prince Albert, Swift Current, La Ronge, North Battleford, and Moose Jaw.
The lost and reckless NDP are once again drumming up hysteria while offering no solutions, no plans, and committing to destroying the very industries that fund our public services. They have made it clear that they do not support any innovation in healthcare, such as the Virtual Physician Program. They would rather shut this program down than utilize modern technology to avoid temporary service disruptions. This would result in thousands of additional disruptions and more patients not being able to receive the care they need.
The NDP threaten your healthcare with empty contradictions, while our government delivers care with consistent action.