Efforts to stabilize the medical team in Leader appeared to be succeeding, after a comprehensive joint effort from area residents and the Cypress Health Region resulted in the successful recruitment of three physicians and a Nurse Practitioner to staff the centre over the past year.
Under the supervision of Dr. Ivo Radevski, Senior Medical Officer for the Cypress Health Region, Dr. Hoque is on track with his remediation efforts with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan and is hopeful that he will be able to practice in Leader very shortly.
Grant Browne, Cypress Health’s Medical Affairs Coordinator, said, “We expect him to be moving to a College approved provisional license in the very near future, which will allow him to join his primary health care team members in Leader.”
News of the impending loss of Leader physician Dr. Amu-Darko, effective February 2012, has motivated the Health Region to begin discussions to encourage him to reconsider.
Beth Vachon, Cypress Health’s CEO, expressed her concern regarding the ongoing challenges being faced by the Leader community in maintaining a full complement of physicians.
“Of course, we were quite excited that we were nearing a milestone where three physicians and a nurse practitioner would be practicing together at the Leader Primary Health Care Medical Clinic,” said Vachon, adding, “The recruitment process consumes a major amount of time, effort and financial resources from health region staff and members of the community.
“Our desire is to maintain Dr. Amu-Darko as a physician in Leader. After our discussions with him, our hope is that he will re-consider his decision to leave and will stay as a partner within the primary health care team,” Vachon said.
