Physician shortage, verbal abuse leads Warman walk-in clinic to temporarily close

A private Saskatchewan medical clinic is pausing its walk-in operations for patients as physician shortages lead to longer wait times and verbal harassment of staff and doctors.

Glenn Murray, a pharmacist and co-owners of Legends Medical Clinic and Legends Pharmacy in Warman, about 20 km northeast of Saskatoon, said it had to be done. 

"We've been completely run over in our walk-ins," Murray said. "This isn't something we want to do, it's something that we feel we have to do."

The clinic announced the operations halt for at least two weeks post on social media, citing the physician shortage and verbal abuse. 

It said to forward concerns about the closure to Mayor Gary Philipchuk and the Warman-Martensville MLA Terry Jenson.

In an email to CBC, Philipchuk said he hadn't received calls about the closure.

"We have a follow-up meeting with the health minister about increased services in Warman on Tuesday. We continue to advocate, as health is a provincial responsibility," the email stated.

In an interview with CBC, Murray detailed the verbal abuse and aggressive actions from some patients who learn of the extensive wait times due to too few staff.

The poor treatment of staff and physicians is beyond what he's seen in his 22 years in the profession.

While not condoning it, he said people do occasionally lose their temper, but it now happens multiple times a day.

"We actually had somebody tear posters off the walls on their way out because the wait was going to be four-and-a-half or five hours," he said.

"Our physicians understand the frustration: people losing their family doctors, not being able to get in to see a physician … but you can't take it out on clinic staff or physicians who are doing the walk-ins, doing the best they can."

Jenn Zanidean is one of those Warman residents who, about six months ago, lost her family doctor. 

She relied Legends' walk-in clinic for her daughter's broken wrist, but went to Saskatoon for the X-rays.