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home / 世界杯决赛2022

meet the two new geriatricians joining sask.’s provincial team

dr. lucas diebel and dr. kelsey sharanowski recently opened practices in regina, rounding out the number of geriatric specialists in saskatchewan to five.

by larissa kurz

dec 29 2022
read time 3 minute read
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dr. lucas diebel and dr. kelsey sharanowski, who are two newly hired geriatricians that joined saskatchewan's geriatric resource team this fall stands for portrait at wascana rehabilitation centre on tuesday, december 6, 2022 in regina. kayle neis / regina leader-post
the addition of two new specialized physicians within the saskatchewan health authority is aiming to improve access to more expansive health care for seniors across the province.
dr. lucas diebel and dr. kelsey sharanowski joined the multidisciplinary geriatric response team in august, opening practices based out of the wascana rehabilitation centre in regina.
“geriatrics to me is the epitome of patient-centered care,” sharanowski said.
diebel and sharanowski are from regina and saskatoon, respectively, and both completed medical school in the province before pursuing specialized training in geriatric medicine outside saskatchewan.
“i immediately fell in love with the subspecialty,” sharanowksi said, of her first geriatrics rotation at mcgill university. “one of the biggest things that drew me in was the really special, therapeutic relationship that geriatricians have with patients and their families.”
for diebel, as he completed his internal medicine residency in halifax, his first experience with geriatric medicine aligned with what he envisioned his future practice to look like — patient-focused and personal.
“i’m able to take the time and incorporate a team of people to try and best address problems instead of what felt like, a lot of the times, bandaging problems up and trying to defer it to another time or person,” he said.
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geriatrics is a relatively small specialty within health care in saskatchewan, serving a large population who make up a significant number of patients utilizing health care resources in the province.
“a geriatrician is to older adults what a pediatrician is to kids,” diebel summarized.
geriatricians diagnose and create management plans for conditions related to aging, which are often very complex, through outpatient-style services and by referral from a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
it’s a speciality that combines expertise in areas like internal medicine, psychiatry and even rehabilitative medicine, to improve quality of life for a specific sect of patients.

with the recent addition, there are now five geriatricians province-wide — the most in saskatchewan’s history — with three in saskatoon serving the northern region , and now diebel and sharanowski serving the south.

compared nationally, it is a relatively small ratio of specialist to patient population, but both diebel and sharanowski are encouraged to see the saskatchewan health authority adding more resources to geriatric care.

seniors are a fast-growing demographic across canada, and according to a canage report from october , saskatchewan has a higher-than-average population of residents over the age of 85.

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they also represent a “disproportionate” number of patients within the health-care system, said diebel, and improving care pathways for older patients can affect the functionality of the entire system.
“older adults should be absolutely a priority,” diebel said. “that’s a means of improving our overall system health, as well as respecting the needs and dignity of older adults in our community.”
sharanowski added that there is also the benefit of bettering exposure to the speciality to medical students and other healthcare experts, especially in a province with no fellowship opportunities.
as part of the allied geriatrics team, both geriatricians offer consultation to other health care areas, in addition to supporting their own patients.
with the capacity increases afforded by two new practices, the health authority is now looking to further expand access to geriatric care into rural areas of the province.
a geriatric outpatient clinic aimed at reaching seniors in rural communities will launch in january 2023, with a pilot location in indian head.
part of those clinics involves offering training in geriatric medicine to local primary care providers, allowing them to do initial assessments and streamline the process for when geriatricians arrive.

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“if we look at how five people can manage a significantly growing population of older adults, it goes beyond individual patient care and extends into expanding capacity, to improving education for all people training through medicine,” diebel said.
the health authority indicated these clinics will be available by referral, with plans to expand in the future to further deliver more extensive care for saskatchewan seniors closer to their homes.
lkurz@postmedia.com

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larissa kurz
larissa kurz

larissa kurz is a health, education and general assignment reporter for the regina leader-post, whose work has also appeared in the saskatoon starphoenix and other postmedia papers.she is a university of saskatchewan alumni and has written for both print and digital news outlets in southern saskatchewan since 2019. she was part of the leader-post and starphoenix team that won the 2022 national newspaper award for breaking news.prior to coming to the leader-post in 2022, larissa worked for the moose jaw express and with glacier media in moose jaw and regina, sask.

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