It's hoped a new government initiative will soon bring more doctors to the province.
Saskatchewan's Health Minister Don McMorris has announ-ced the hiring of Edward Mantler as Chief Executive Officer of the Saskatchewan Physi-cian Recruitment Agency. His first order of the day: recruit and retain more physicians for Saskatchewan.
"We are pleased to have attracted a candidate with Mr. Mantler's dedication to health leadership and health management experience," Health Minister Don McMorris says. "Mantler is a Certified Health Executive with more than twenty years experience in complex health care operations."
"I am pleased to be working with the Physician Recruitment Agency of Saskat-chewan," Mantler said. "Coming from a prairie province I understand the important role of the agency in retaining Saskatchewan's medical graduates and acting as a one-stop point of contact for physicians seeking to set up practice in the province."
Announced in March this year, the Physician Recruitment Agency will enhance, coordinate and support recruitment efforts across the province. It will also work closely with health regions and communities to address their physician needs.
"We need to be innovative if we are to succeed in attracting more physicians to Saskat-chewan and convince more of our medical graduates to set up their practices here," Physician Recruit-ment Agency Board Member and member of the College of Medicine Dr. Femi Olatunbosun said. "Having Mr. Mantler's headquarters near the College of Medicine will help him connect with our students and residents while they are still considering where they will practice medicine."
Mantler was most recently the Senior Operating Officer at University of Alberta Hospital where he was responsible for the day-to-day clinical operations of a full service academic teaching hospital, and before that, was the Director of Medical Access and Innovation in the Calgary Health Region, where he led projects addressing access to medical services. He is a Surveyor with Accreditation Canada, a peer review agency that helps organizations assess and improve services for patients and clients based on standards of excellence.
