ST. JOHN, Netherlands –
A doctor who fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine and arrived in Newfoundland last month says she’s frustrated by the lack of communication from the provincial government — and she’s not alone.
Marina Sikorska said in a recent interview that she is looking forward to working as a general practitioner in St. John’s. But she said as of Sunday night, her emails to the province asking for help had gone unanswered.
Sikorska said she knows four other doctors and a nurse from her country who have moved to Newfoundland and feel similarly hampered by the lack of communication from the government. In contrast, she points to Nova Scotia’s Ministry of Health, which is actively recruiting Ukrainian health professionals — including those in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I don’t want to leave Newfoundland, I love this place,” she said. “I like these people and I want to help them, but I can’t. And it really broke my heart.”
Newfoundland and Labrador have worked hard to attract Ukrainians fleeing their country amid attacks by the Russian military. The government set up a satellite office in Warsaw, Poland, to help Ukrainians settle in the province, and chartered two flights from Poland to St. John’s, each carrying more than 150 Ukrainians.
Sikorska arrived on June 14 with her husband and three children. Before that, she was a general practitioner for eight years in Kyiv, where she opened a medical center. She also taught pediatrics at the Military Medical Academy of Ukraine, she said.
Sikorska said she understands she will have to retrain and take exams to get a license in Newfoundland and Labrador. But there are ways the province can help or speed up that process, she said, noting that even providing translated forms and certification information would help.
“They said they needed doctors, that people didn’t have family doctors,” she said of the provincial representatives she spoke with before moving to St. John’s.
Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia Department of Health has contacted Ukrainian doctors in Newfoundland to offer benefits such as housing and daycare if they move to that province, Michael Holden, who helps Ukrainians settle in Newfoundland, said in an interview Monday. .
Nova Scotia also launched an online portal in late June to help Ukrainian health workers find jobs. Khalehla Perrault, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Welfare, said in an email Monday that no one has yet found work through the system; however, “multiple health care providers” work with all applicants.
Holden said he was part of a group chat that included 10 Ukrainian doctors who were disillusioned with the provincial government. Two local doctors who are also part of the group say they are willing to help Ukrainian doctors study for medical licensing exams, he said.
“We don’t want disillusioned Ukrainian doctors here in Newfoundland,” Holden said. “We need to roll out the red carpet for them.”
Holden said doctors are desperately needed in the province — the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association released a study last month showing nearly one in four residents are without a family doctor.
He created a widely shared social media post on Sunday about a frustrated Ukrainian doctor, prompting a response from Tom Osborne, the province’s new health minister, who urged Ukrainian doctors to contact his office or the office of Prime Minister Andrew Fury directly.
Holden said he then sent his list of doctors to Osborne, who began emailing each one. Osborne also offered to set up a meeting with the doctors, he said.
Holden then said he’d like to see the province offer the same kinds of support to those doctors they can get in Nova Scotia as they study for the tough exams they must pass to practice in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I want to see a level playing field between the provinces,” he said.
Osborne’s office was not immediately available for comment or an interview Monday.
Sikorska received an email from Osborne on Sunday evening after he forwarded from his office an email she had sent to the prime minister’s office on July 7. Osborne’s email thanked her for the note and said his staff would be in touch with her soon.
“We’ll see,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on July 18, 2022.
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