A family care centre in central Newfoundland is missing a critical component: doctors

Last October, a new family care centre opened to provide relief for central Newfoundland residents without family doctors.

Seven months later, the Grand Falls-Windsor centre is operating butthe positions for the much-neededfamily physicians are vacant.

More than 4,000 of the town's residents are without a family doctor.

Mayor Barry Manuel estimates that between 10 and 15 per cent of local residents eligible for the town's family care centre have been onboarded.

"If you do the math, you're looking at years before they can connect with a family doctor, which is really unacceptable, and an alarming statistic," Manuel said.

He worries that some residents' health is becoming compromised, and they don't know.

"You got people in this community and in the region who are going with health-care issues that are undiagnosed and untreated," Manuel said.

"When you talk about disease and that kind of stuff, there are huge implications of that for us."

'The only place that's got the porch light on'

The implications play out in other parts of the health-care system, including emergency rooms, says Dr. Desmond Whalen, a physician in the emergency department at the hospital in Grand Falls- Windsor.

Whalen, who isalso the senior medical director for the central zone of N.L. Health Services, said he understands the pressures on emergency rooms and the need for family physicians.

"More and more people without a family physician means more and more people are showing up to the emergency department because it's the only place that's got the porch light on where they can go," Whalen told CBC.

Whalen believes traditional ideas about family medicine are changing, and thatmany doctors want a better work-life balance as well as the ability to expand their scope of practice.

WATCH | This reimagined health-care model is missing one thing doctors:

Theres a family care centre in Grand Falls-Windsor but it doesnt have doctors to staff it

5 months ago

Duration 2:35

The Newfoundland and Labrador government announced a new family care centre in October 2023, billing it as a reimagining of health care to meet the needs of residents in and around Grand Falls-Windsor. But there are no physicians on the team yet. As the CBCs Troy Turner reports, thats putting a strain on the model and residents.

"We know that most people coming into family medicine now are looking for a robust, very fulfilling practice," he said.

For example, a physician might want to work in the hospital as well as the family care centre.

Whalen said managerscan work around this.

"We're willing to work with them and do all these sort of advocacy pieces to make sure we get a model that they can walk into that they're happy with at the end of the day," he said.

Eager to havethe physician vacancies filled, Manuel said the town has been in daily contact since May with local physicians who are willing to help, the government and N.L. Health Services.

Manuel said government officials have even asked the town to stay quiet on the issue.

"We've been told a number of times now to hold off a few days before you talk to the media, before you go out and do any kind of public action. But here we are weeks and weeks later and still nothing," Manuel said.

Manuel is all for creative health-care solutions.

"It doesn't matter how it gets fixed to us, as long as it gets fixed," he said.

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