Regional hospital in Killarney recruits two international docs

Two internationally trained doctors have been recruited to practise in Killarney, helping to relieve a staffing shortage at the hospital that functions as a regional hub.

Killarney Turtle-Mountain Mayor Janice Smith identified the physicians as Shamsudeen and Olamide Usman, a husband and wife recruited by Prairie Mountain Health via the University of Manitoba’s medical licensure program for international medical graduates.

“They are very anxious to get their careers going and we are just thrilled that they are going to be part of our community,” Smith said Wednesday. “It’s a big impact.

The couple recently visited Killarney — located about 240 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg — to check out schools, real estate, the recreational centre and the Tri-Lake Health Centre and medical clinic where they will work.

The facility includes a 24/7 emergency unit, personal care wing, palliative care, medical lab and an X-ray and ultrasound unit. It is considered the regional centre for the delivery of health care and community services.

The Usmans are expected to begin working in late August or September 2026; their arrival will bring the facility up to a full complement of five physicians, Smith said.

The couple are in their 30s, and have three children younger than six, Smith said.

They visited more than a dozen other communities throughout the Prairie Mountain Health region before settling on Killarney.

“They actually chose us,” she said. “We were pretty pumped about that.”

Manitoba is struggling with a shortage of doctors, particularly in rural areas.

Doctors Manitoba, the group that speaks on behalf of physicians in the province, said Manitoba ranks second-last in Canada in terms of the number of physicians per capita.

The group released a report in October that shows the province has improved its recruitment of physicians and helped reduced the shortage, but retirements, burnout and out-of-province migration could put those gains at risk.

“I’d like to be among the first to welcome these physicians to Prairie Mountain. This is great news to cap off what’s turned into a record-breaking year for doctor recruitment,” Doctors Manitoba president Dr. Nichelle Desilets, a family physician in Neepawa, said in a statement.

“Manitoba is doing better on recruitment, but when it comes to retaining doctors, our statistics are among the worst in the country. Retention must be the health system’s resolution and focus for 2026.”

Killarney has had success recruiting doctors using Winnipeg-based recruiting firm Waterford Global.

Dr. Jim Heptinstall and Dr. Dominic Hennessy — two physicians from England — began working in the community last year. They joined Dr. Mark Bemment, who is from the United Kingdom and was recruited by the same firm in 2016.

“You never stop recruiting,” Smith said. “It is so difficult to recruit and to get doctors to come because you’re dealing with people’s lives and situations change.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca