Call for support

Of Obstetrics and Surgical services in Drumheller

Dr David Liknes

I am requesting your support as I continue negotiations with the central zone administration to attain extended obstetrical and surgical privileges in Drumheller. What does this mean for Drumheller? It would mean we would have more support for obstetrical emergencies including caesarean sections and we could do more minor procedures and colon cancer screening here in Drumheller.

Here is the back story. I have worked in Drumheller since 2016 as a family physician. In 2018 in discussions with the surgical and obstetrical teams in Drumheller it was decided that having an additional physician to support the services we already have would better serve the people of Drumheller. As such I took a one-year sabbatical from my practice in Drumheller and did extra training in a nationally accredited program in Enhanced Surgical Skills for family physicians. Since returning to Drumheller, the Medical administration in Central Zone has been resistant to granting me privileges to use the skills I trained for in this program. At this time when we are restarting surgical services in Drumheller and wait times are longer due to increased volume, we feel that it is more important than ever to have another person here that can support our surgical and obstetrical services.

I, with the support of the medical administration and the surgical team in Drumheller will be meeting with the central zone administration to appeal their decision in the middle of June.

So what can you do to help? At this time, we are asking the community to help support us in this appeal.