A public forum held in Kamsack on September 8 to discuss issues relating to the town's doctor shortage remained civil despite strong feelings on both sides of the debate.
The town was forced to schedule the meeting in response to a 200-signature petition brought to council in mid-August. A sizable group of residents has taken issue with two councillors--Dorothy Davies, wife of Dr. M. Davies, and Denise Wishnevetski-Grozik, an employee of the same physician--deciding healthcare matters in the town without declaring a conflict of interest.
One of Kamsack's more recently arrived physicians, Dr. J. Greyling, recently announced plans to resign his position: a decision reputed around town to have been influenced by personal issues between he and Dr. Davies. The continued presence of two citizens with close ties to Dr. Davies on town council, complainants charge, will poison the town's chances of solving its healthcare crisis.
And crisis does not seem like too strong a word to describe Kamsack's present status. Town and Sunrise Health Region officials have said the community is at "situation critical": even before Dr. Greyling departs, the town is short of the four full-time doctors it requires, and the local hospital is frequently in the news over interruptions to its emergency services. Tempers have run so hot that at one August meeting of council, the police were called to escort out a member of a delegation on the issue.
Nothing so dramatic happened at Wednesday night's meeting, despite having approximately 250 people in attendance. The controversy over councillors Davies and Grozik was a side issue as speakers chose to focus on more general healthcare topics.
Ken Fleet, who wrote the petition that birthed the meeting, made no mention in his opening or closing remarks of his previous demand for the councillors' resignation; he is currently attempting to get a court ruling on that matter. Fleet instead called for the health region and the provincial government to stop shirking their duty to recruit healthcare professionals, and for the town to bring in outside help to review its medical services and recruitment efforts.
"The problem isn't more money or rural remoteness, but is embedded," said Fleet. "It runs too deep and has been within the community for too long. Attempting to fix the problem ourselves would only serve to have the community rip itself apart."
Councillor Rod Gardner, a member of the town's Medical Services Assessment Committee, was council's sole mouthpiece at the meeting. Councillors Davies and Grozik remained silent, and Mayor Betty Dix was unable to attend due to illness.
Gardner spoke of the town's eventual plan to build an all-in-one clinic housing four physicians, an optometrist, a dentist, a chiropractor, and other health professionals, suggesting that it could be a long-term solution to some of the town's medical woes. He also said that the town believes the health region will have a physician in Kamsack to replace Dr. Greyling before his resignation later this month.
Gardner addressed the alleged conflict of interest when a member of the audience asked why council had not dealt with the issue.
"If every time that somebody came to council and said, 'Hey, I have an issue and I think I want somebody to resign,' we'd be spending all our time deciding who should and who shouldn't sit on council," he said. "I don't think it's an issue that council has to deal with at all."
When these remarks were met with applause, Gardner elaborated. Some overlap between roles is inevitable in a small town, he said.
"Think about this for a minute. Why would Dorothy Davies want to sit on a committee to help run a doctor out of town? ... By one doctor leaving, is [Dr. Davies] going to make more money? Give your head a shake, people. He can't keep up with the patient load he's got now."
Councillor Grozik, he added, would be putting her job at risk by reducing the health services available in Kamsack.
But Gardner did not address the complaints lodged by Ken Fleet, which were concerned not with the councillors' intentions but with the impossibility of their remaining impartial on matters which might directly affect Dr. Davies.
Gardner concluded with an attempt to find common ground with the petitioners.
"Everyone wants better healthcare," he said. He urged residents to form a united front for the town to present to prospective healthcare professionals.
At the night's end, Fleet repeated his call for outside investigation into the town's troubles.
"You know as well as I do, police officers don't squeal on police officers, doctors don't squeal on doctors, and lawyers don't rat on lawyers. That's the way it works."
