(submitted photo/Victoria Hospital Foundation)

By Alison Sandstrom

Rural healthcare

Award-winning P.A. doctor pushes for better access to care in rural communities

Jun 10, 2020 | 5:55 PM

A Prince Albert doctor is advocating for better rural health care access in Saskatchewan.

Dr. Randy Friesen, northeast area chief of staff and general surgeon spoke to paNOW after being honoured with the Rural Service Award from the Society of Rural Physicians.

“By getting better services into smaller communities, rural communities, giving them the resources they need to be successful, safe and provide a really good level of care we’re going to hugely enhance the quality of life for rural people,” he said.

For Friesen, providing care as close to home as possible is about justice.

He explained many Indigenous women from the North have to leave home two to three weeks before they’re due to deliver to wait in P.A. to give birth. They’re separated from their support system, living in an unfamiliar city instead of being able to deliver surrounded by their loved ones.

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“That’s the kind of scenario that we’re trying to change,” Friesen said.

Despite what he describes as the centralization of healthcare services in urban centers, Friesen explained he sees positive developments in the fight for better access to care in rural communities. He pointed to a Prince Albert-based program that trains family physicians to perform low-complexity surgeries and caesarian sections.

“It’s unique in Canada,” he said. “So we have applicants from across the country who are actually coming here to train in these skills.”

Still, he explained it’s sometimes difficult to convince governments to invest in providing services in rural communities.

“As anyone who lives in a small town knows, to get attention at the levels of government in the bigger cities, it’s a constant battle,” he said.

However he sees the provincial government’s recent announcement of $300 million for a major expansion at the Victoria Hospital as a good sign.

“I think the fact that we’re getting the hospital redevelopment work done indicates that the need for services in our North in particular is recognized,” he said.

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alison.sandstrom@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alisandstrom