Dr. Mohammad Zulfiquar Hussain, 79, died of a heart attack on Oct. 12 (Submitted photo/Saskatchewan Health Authority)

By Alison Sandstrom

Health Care

Gap in services left by psychiatrist’s death

Oct 25, 2019 | 5:41 PM

Prince Albert man, Delaney (whose last name we’ve chosen not to use) credits Dr. Mohammad Zulfiquar Hussain with his life and his future.

When the two met in 2015, Delaney had just been committed to the psychiatric ward at the Victoria Hospital.

“I was really scared at first but once I actually stayed in there I ended up realizing that there really wasn’t anything to be afraid about,” he said.

Delaney spent two and a half weeks on the ward.

“By the time I left, they helped me realize that I have some sort of purpose in life. I’m really grateful for him and his team of nurses.”

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In the years since, they saw each other regularly. Hussain told Delaney he could visit his office whenever he wanted, if he needed new medication or something came up.

“And that’s what I usually did,” he said, adding he had no problem sitting in the waiting room for a while.

Now, as the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) works to fill the void in services left by the death of P.A.’s top psychiatrist, Delaney and others are wondering about the immediate future of their own medical care.

Delaney told paNOW he’s not sure where he’ll go if he needs psychiatric help, though he’s considering Addictions Services or Access Place.

High need for child psychiatrists

Hussain’s passing has left a particularly big hole in child psychiatric services in the community. The specialty that Hussain trained in (he was also an adult psychiatrist), is in high demand in P.A. and Northern Saskatchewan.

There is currently only one child psychiatrist practicing in the city. At the time of Hussain’s death, the SHA was still trying to find a replacement for a different child psychiatrist who moved away several years ago. The Health Authority told paNOW in an email they are now finalizing plans to fill Hussain’s former position as Victoria Hospital chief of psychiatry, as well.

A family who dealt with Dr Hussain for five years, heard about his death through friends. Alana, whose 14-year-old son was the patient, told paNOW he was due for an appointment with him in December.

“I just assumed at some point somebody would phone and say Hussain has passed and this is where you go from here, but that hasn’t happened yet,” she said.

“So it makes me worried for people who are more severe or less stable than my son is. It’s scary for families.”

Interim planning

The SHA said in an email that they have developed an “interim plan with the Prince Albert and area psychiatry team” to manage care for patients in and out of hospital, and that people are being directed back to their family doctors.

Mitchell, aged 35, had been seeing Dr. Hussain since he was 13-years-old. He said he’s not worried about finding another psychiatrist, as he now has the right balance of medication and can get his prescription renewed by his family physician.

Still, he’s grateful to the psychiatrist he said became like a family friend to him, treating his father and uncles as well.

“He was friendly, he had a couple thousand patients and he still took the time to know who you were,” he said.

“He got me on the right path, he kind of changed my life, I don’t know where I would be without him.”

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom