Manitoba physician details burnout amid doctor shortage, calls for systemic change

A Manitoba family physician is speaking out about the province’s doctor shortage, which is creating a workload she says hasn’t dipped since the COVID-19 pandemic began five years ago.

Dr. Jennifer Anderson says the shortage has driven further burnout. She’s found herself alone on shifts from 5 p.m. onward in the emergency department at a rural Manitoba hospital.

“They just sort of expected more and more and as the years went on, we lost more staff to burnout, people retired, people reduced their hours,” Anderson said. “I can visibly see the aging on my colleagues and it actually makes me sad.

“A lot of us thought it was a short-term thing where we would just work, work, work and then it would all sort of dissipate and it never did.

“Rurally, I can be like delivering a pre-term baby while I’m trying to resuscitate somebody while I have somebody coming in with a heart attack and I’m doing a stroke protocol on somebody.”

She notes moral and ethical distress – not being able to provide the level of care they want – as well as physician culture.

“We weren’t taught to stand up for ourselves,” Anderson explained. “We weren’t taught to look after our own wellness and when we do try to do that, in the past, there’s no flexibility and that’s really difficult.”

According to figures from Doctors Manitoba from November 2024, the province was 346 doctors short of the national average per capita. The province hired 138 new physicians last year.

“We can get more doctors, we can get them from the States, we can get them from overseas, but if we don’t change the system, they’re not going to last,” said Dr. Anderson.

She points to two situations she experienced this year: a suicidal event in her department and a shooter threat. She says it was left to her to comfort the staff, continue to attend to all patients, and devise some kind of plan.

“I didn’t know we were on lockdown, and I walked into the department not knowing that. There was no management that ever showed up that night.”

In response to these concerns, Southern Health says it acknowledges the past several years have placed extraordinary demands on physicians and health-care providers across the system.

“The ongoing physician shortage has led to increased workloads and significant strain and we are deeply grateful for the dedication and resilience of those who continue to provide care under these pressures.”

They say emergency response plans are in place for all emergency scenarios, and staff are given education on them.

They add they continue to work in partnership with Shared Health to increase access to mental-health resources for all health-care staff through the provincial wellbeing hub.

“Work is underway to bring awareness to these resources across the province and to continue identify and address gaps,” they said.

Anderson says they did get supports in the following weeks, but would have appreciated a visit or call from management while the situations unfolded.

“Dealing with all of that, it makes it hard to go to work, you get anxious going to work,” the doctor said. “I never felt anxious going to work more than five years ago.”