‘Morally sound medicine’: U.S. doctor finds freedom, acceptance in Winnipeg

Dr. Jesse Krikorian decided it was time to leave his country after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that target transgender Americans in January.

The doctor, who belongs to the LGBTTQ+ community, was looking for a new place to call home and allow him to care for patients.

“It was becoming very complicated to establish a career doing the type of community-underserved work that I wanted to do,” he said Thursday.

Legislators in several U.S. states have introduced hundreds of bills that target transgender, non-binary and gender-expansive youth’s access to age-appropriate, medically necessary care.

The single, 36-year-old was looking into New Zealand or Canada when a friend suggested he check out Winnipeg.

He found a website that listed a position at Klinic Community Health and arrived in early spring for a site visit.

“It’s a little bit grey and a little bit icy, but I spent the last few years in the northern Midwest, so I’m used to that,” Krikorian said about his first impressions.

What caught his eye and captured his heart was the sight of colourful rainbow and transgender pride flags flying at locations around the city.

“A lot of my work deals with 2SLGBTQ populations, and I was excited to see how many places had flags up. It just seemed like a really welcoming place,” said Krikorian.

The physician, who was raised in Florida, studied medicine in New Jersey and had a residency in Philadelphia before practising in Michigan.

Manitoba, which ranks near the bottom for the number of physicians per capita in Canada, has 33 U.S. physicians in various stages of recruitment to the province. Six started practising in Manitoba in recent weeks.

He joined the staff at Klinic on Sherbrook Street earlier this month as a community family medicine doctor.

Klinic offers primary and mental health care as well as community health services. Its stated core value is “social justice for all, recognizing that there are diverse needs and experiences for people who are most impacted by discrimination and oppression that must be addressed.”

The doctor said it’s been a good fit so far, but he continues to worry about the state of health care down south.

“A lot of my work deals with 2SLGBTQ populations, and I was excited to see how many places had flags up. It just seemed like a really welcoming place.”

“I am worried that we’re doing irreparable damage to some of these patients who are now no longer able to access care,” he said, noting he’s lost some of those patients to suicide.

“People understand that it’s a challenging situation for some folks in the U.S. right now — that this is a little bit of a safe harbour for those of us who can get here. I’ve known people who have lost their jobs because of their identity, who have received threats because of who they are, who have gotten doxxed, who have had people show up at their house. I have seen people for whom this seems like a very real threat.”

Krikorian called the immigration and credentialing processes smooth. In June, the province approved a change to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba regulations, which streamlined recruitment for U.S. doctors to apply for full licensure if they meet certain requirements.

When he made it to Winnipeg, he was welcomed with a dinner party.

One of the guests was Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara, who identifies as non-binary and embraces diversity. Krikorian said witnessing politicians stand up for the trans community was reassuring. He said he’s thrilled to be able to treat patients without political interference.

“I saw Manitoba as an opportunity to practice morally sound medicine without having to worry as much about what’s going on in the political environment,” he said, noting some vaccinations and some medications (such as pre-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of HIV) have become heavily politicized in the U.S.

He called Canada’s universal health care system a game-changer.

“For me, it was not uncommon to have patients who really needed a sooner follow-up in the U.S. but just couldn’t afford the co-pay” required by private health insurance.

He said he’s concerned about the impact of looming Medicare funding cuts in the U.S. that many older Americans and those living with certain disabilities rely on.

“Those specific patients are going to have worse access to health care, but also, a lot of the smaller hospitals and rural hospitals rely on those Medicare payments to stay afloat. You’re going to lose rural hospitals. At that point, it’s the entire community that’s losing access,” Krikorian said.

Krikorian left a career in civil engineering to go into health care. Initially, he considered becoming a hospital chaplain, recalling “challenging interactions” he and others in the LGBTTQ+ community had with the health-care system.

“I really think that there are a lot of doctors in the U.S. who are thinking about Canada, but who might not be aware of Winnipeg, or Manitoba in general, as an option.”

“I realized if I went to medical school, I would have a real opportunity to make things better, to improve access, to improve cultural competency.”

He appreciates the work culture at Klinic.

“Here it’s an eight-hour day. You get lunch, which I really appreciate because in the U.S. you might have an hour blocked out for lunch, but you were spending that time on managing your inbox and returning calls to patients and calling insurance companies.”

British Columbia’s doctor recruitment advertising blitz in the U.S. drew a lot of attention, Krikorian said. He suggested Manitoba consider a similar approach.

“I really think that there are a lot of doctors in the U.S. who are thinking about Canada, but who might not be aware of Winnipeg, or Manitoba in general, as an option.”

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca