Melfort attracts new physician, adds to community surgical capacity
Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) is pleased to announce that it has successfully recruited a family medicine practitioner to the Melfort area. Dr. Evan Mah joined Melfort’s health-care community this past fall.
“Melfort’s size was appealing and the services and practitioners within the community matched more of the style of practice I was hoping to have,” said Dr. Evan Mah. “Really, it is all about being able to use your years of training and education to help your patients. Being able to do that in a community that you get to live in and support, both personally and professionally, makes it even more rewarding.”
Mah is one of the new physicians hired in Saskatchewan over the past year, working in rural Saskatchewan thanks to the support offered through the Government of Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resource plan. He was drawn to Melfort because of the proximity to his family in Regina and the mentorship offered by experienced physicians in the community.
In addition, Mah was able further his surgical skills training in Prince Albert prior to opening his practise though the University of Saskatchewan’s (USask) Enhanced Surgical Skills (ESS) program. The ESS program gives general practitioners an opportunity to receive more training in surgery and obstetrics, preparing them with the skill to provide emergency treatments such as Caesarian sections, appendectomies and abscess removals, along with tests like gastroscopies and colonoscopies.
“My ability to provide these types of procedures in Melfort means patients can deliver their babies closer to home, family and support systems,” Dr. Mah explains. “This increases access for patients, so receiving health care is less of a burden on their day-to-day life.”
Further incentives through the Government of Saskatchewan’s Rural Physician Incentive Program (RPIP), including a financial bonus offered by the City of Melfort to physicians who practice within the community for at least two years, all added up to the community’s successful recruitment.
“It’s exciting to see a skilled physician like Dr. Evan Mah choose to serve his province and practice in a rural community like Melfort,” said Dr. Jordan Wingate, SHA Deputy Medical Officer and Melfort physician. “The value of a network of health-care practitioners to support and attract new physicians to rural and remote communities cannot be overstated. The citizens of Melfort are overjoyed to have him there.”
The RPIP offers physicians practicing in rural or remote communities an incentive of up to $200,000 over five years. For more information on the multiple incentives offered to health care workers and physicians as part of the Government of Saskatchewan’s Health Human Resources plan, visit saskatchewan.ca/residents/health/health-human-resources.