After over a year without a specialist in the province, Dr. Rabin Persad will start a new team at the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.
Bryn Levy
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Danica Ruf is all too aware that things could have been much worse when her son Jaxson, 12, had a flare-up of ulcerative colitis last fall.
Saskatchewan lost its last practising pediatric gastroenterologist in May 2023, and the Rufs were facing uncertainty around their son’s prospects for treatment in Saskatchewan. Many families in similar positions were forced to travel out-of-province.
Thankfully, Jaxson’s flare-up happened to occur in a week when a locum, or fill-in specialist brought in from elsewhere, was available.
“Everything was expedited to get a diagnosis and get the diagnostic tests that we needed,” Ruf said. In a week with no locum, the family would have faced lengthy waits or travel for care.
“When someone’s sick, you drop everything and go,” Jaxson’s father Nick said; he was visibly emotional during an event on Tuesday at the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Everett Hindley and officials from the Saskatchewan Health Authority announced the recruitment of Dr. Rabin Persad, a pediatric gastroenterologist who is expected to begin practising at JPCH in October.
Ruf, whose other son Benjamin, six, also has colitis, saw Saskatchewan’s pediatric gastroenterology team dwindle in recent years from two physicians to only an “amazing” nurse practitioner and a locum.
She said the prospect of having a consistent specialist for her boys is a relief, even if it still means three and a half hours of travel from the family’s home at Good Spirit Lake, near Yorkton.
“It’s amazing to have someone who’s consistent, who we can contact and have that expertise available immediately.”
Persad comes to Saskatoon from Edmonton, where he practised at the Stollery Children’s Hospital since 2006, and has served as an associate professor in the University of Alberta’s pediatrics department.
Persad said physicians are “privileged” to be well-compensated no matter where they work in Canada. With that in mind, he said success in attracting specialists isn’t a matter of “throwing money at people.”
Rather, he said he’s excited to take on leadership of a new team.
“The opportunity to be a part of something that’s going to be sustainable is really an exciting one, and providing care to the families and children of Saskatchewan has its own reward and impact,” he said.
Persad will lead more pediatric GI specialists expected to be recruited in coming months and years to rebuild and ideally expand Saskatchewan’s capacity to treat and care for children with conditions like colitis, Crohn’s and inflammatory bowel disease.
While he said it will take time to assess the province’s exact needs, Persad suggested that “four or five” specialists is likely the ideal number to provide appropriate care for patients with enough overlap to prevent burnout among the doctors.
Hindley acknowledged in his remarks that it’s been difficult for the families who have waited as the province and SHA worked to recruit Persad.
He pledged that the province will continue to support efforts to “build a team” at the JPCH, including specialists, nurses and support staff.
Hindley said this team-building approach is expected to help with future recruitment, noting he’s heard directly from physicians around Canada that they want to work in environments where they have support from other professionals to keep from “feeling like they’re practising alone.”
