Looking back to one-year-ago, Arcola was battling through the temporary loss of its emergency and in-patient services at the hospital. There were no doctors working in the community - no one to tend to emergencies and no one to tend to patients.
Today, the picture looks much different in Arcola.
Thanks to the dedication of the recruitment committee, and one woman in particular - Shelia Sim - the community went from having no doctors to having four doctors in about eight months.
The first doctor, Dr. Lise Morin, began working in May of this year. She was joined by Dr. Sameer Paruk and Dr. Tasnim Gafoor in the summer. Once the community was secure with its three physicians, Sun Country Health Region recommenced Arcola Health Centre's emergency and in-patient services. The three physicians worked the hospital rotation with Dr. Cathy Meyer from Carlyle, and things were going great.
When Dr. Meyer suddenly fell ill, and therefore could not work, the three physicians in Arcola worked hard to ensure the hospital would remain open. And now, thanks to the addition of a fourth physician to the community, this job will become less daunting.
Sim, a member of the Moose Mountain Health Care Recruitment Committee, has been a firm proponent of ensuring the physicians are not overworked in order to avoid doctor burnout. Having four doctors working out of Arcola provides the physicians with the opportunity to enjoy their lives in the community, by providing them with days off from being on-call, instead of having to be on-call every night, or every other night.
The eventual goal is to go back to working with the physician in Carlyle for the on-call schedule, which would provide all five doctors with a better lifestyle.
Dr. Desoula Lesola arrived in Arcola the last week of November, and began working the first week of December. He brings eight years of experience as physician to Arcola, and greatly looks forward to his time there.
I've done "a bit of everything in the past eight years," said Dr. Lesola, who came to Arcola from Â鶹ÊÓƵ Africa. "I worked in a government hospital, I worked in a public practice [and] I worked in the private sector as well."
Although Dr. Lesola came to Canada by himself, he does have a wife and four-year-old daughter back in Â鶹ÊÓƵ Africa. His wife is currently studying Public Health. They will be coming to visit after Christmas.
So far, Dr. Lesola has been enjoying his time in Arcola, and has been pleased with the welcome he received.
"It's been nice," said Dr. Lesola. "People are friendly, more than I expected. It's laid-back I will say, and very, very cold."
Of course, Dr. Lesola knew it would be cold in Saskatchewan, so he came prepared.
"More than prepared," he said, with a laugh. "There is nothing that I bought here since I arrived."
Since Dr. Lesola began working in Saskatchewan prior to Jan. 1, 2011 - when the new policies regarding foreign-trained physicians come into effect - he was granted permission to work here as an exception, as he was needed to help alleviate pressures on the physicians working here.
"We got him [now] on the fact we needed [him] to keep the hospital open," Dr. Morin explained.
As Dr. Lesola becomes acquainted with his new community and his new job, there is one thing he is really excited to experience during his first Canadian winter.
"Someone told me about a skidoo," said Dr. Lesola, "so I'm going to try that."
