Doctors call for reforms as people in Sask. struggle to find a family doctor

There are currently no doctor's clinics in Saskatoon accepting new patients, according to the database on the Saskatchewan Health Authority website — part of a primary health care crisis that one doctor says has been looming for years.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," reads the health authority's site under the heading "clinics accepting general patients."

Dr. Adam Ogieglo says the situation has never been this bad in Saskatoon.

"It's always been slim pickings, but when I started 10 years ago as a family physician, you would find there would be a full page of doctors that were taking patients," said Ogieglo, a family physician and partner at Lakeside Medical Clinic in Saskatoon.

"I've never seen the lists have zero doctors and zero clinics taking patients before."

Ogieglo said that's concerning because family physicians play a critical role in the health-care system. 

"People that have a family physician live longer than people that don't," he said, adding that level of medical care can reduce the time people spend in hospital, downstream costs and backlogs at other types of care clinics. 

Ogieglo said while the problem has worsened in Saskatoon, it's an issue across Canada.

The inability to access primary health care is concerning and frustrating, said Stevie, a 27-year-old who lives in Regina. CBC has agreed not to use the last name of Stevie, who uses the pronouns they and them.

They've had the same family doctor their entire life. That doctor has treated Stevie's parents and extended family, but he's retiring soon.

Stevie said when their doctor first talked about retirement, he said a new doctor would ideally take over the practice. 

"But that's not happening because there's no one to take over the practice," they said. "It definitely makes me anxious." 

Stevie said they are eager to find a new doctor because they have a two-month-old son. So far, they've had no luck. 

"When I looked online at the list of available practitioners in Regina, it was a really small list," they said, adding doctors on the list actually weren't accepting new patients and some who were had questionable track records.