Pediatric gastroenterologist hired in Saskatchewan after being without for over a year

The Government of Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) announced this morning (Tuesday) that they have recruited a pediatric gastroenterologist. Dr. Rabin Persad will begin practicing in Saskatchewan on October 1st. In a news release Health Minister Everett Hindley said, “Children with gastrointestinal issues – and their families – will have local access to timely and effective care, reducing wait times and the need for lengthy travel.

There were calls for the Saskatchewan government to ramp up recruitment for a pediatric gastroenterologist over a year ago. The Opposition NDP highlighted not only the lack of specialists in the province but its impact in terms of out of pocket bills when the families have to travel to places like Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto. The NDP also emphasized that along with the need to hire new specialists, the government needs to be able to retain them. There were previously two pediatric gastroenteroligists in Saskatchewan, but then it was down to one, and she left her practice in May of last year.

Dr. Persad says a key goal is to build relationships and expand the pediatric gastroenterology program across the province. Dr. Persad has practiced at the Stollery Children’s Hospital since 2006. When asked how many pediatric gastroenterologists are needed in Saskatchewan he answered that it is difficult to say, “because you’ll notice that in many provinces there are teams that are small teams and there are teams that are large teams. When you start small, it grows and hopefully that’s what we will see here. The ideal number would be between four and five.”

Health Minister Everett Hindley says the Ministry and the SHA have invested $2.9 million for surgical, medical and nutritional gastroenterology programming for children. This includes an interdisciplinary team of new nursing, anesthesiology, pharmacy, social work and registered dietitian staffing to support the over 200 children waiting for gastroenterology assessment, along with the 243 patients in active care. The investment also includes expanding services to Regina to allow for easier access for families in the south.

Hindley believes knowing that a program is being developed helps with the recruitment of more physicians and other health workers. The almost $3 million investment is also to expand services to Regina for easier access in the south.