In spite of the difficult situation, Dr. Wayne Collins and Dr. Brenda Penney are working to keep the doors to the clinic open. The Pilot spoke with Dr. Collins and Dr. Penney last Friday to get an update on the status of physician recruitment efforts and steps being taken to manage the situation.
To date one physician has been recruited to take over Dr. Amin’s patient files. He is expected to be at the clinic on March 1, coinciding with when Dr. Amin will be leaving.
Dr. Taher will be leaving the Lewisporte Family Medical Clinic the end of March.
Dr. Collins has had discussions with another physician. There is some interest from this doctor in coming to Lewisporte to join the practice, but nothing definite yet. If that physician were to decide to come to Lewisporte it would still leave one position to be filled.
“Whether we are five doctors or three, the same number of people present to this clinic,” said Dr. Penney. “If there are five doctors you can handle it, but you can’t with three.
“If in March we get one – possibly two (doctors to join the practice), we are still down a doctor and it is still a strain. We really need five full-time doctors.”
That strain on the current staff of physicians was compounded with one physician being on holidays, leaving only three doctors for the better part of last week and just two doctors available to see patients one particular day.
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