Some Estevan residents are becoming increasingly fed up with a doctor shortage that has dragged on for months.

Many in town are without a designated family doctor, including Craig Caissie, who has a wife, two kids, and another one on the way.

He said his family had a doctor, but that they recently resigned. Now he and his family are being forced to travel to Regina to see a physician.

"It's something else," Caissie said. "Not only that, we almost have to leave the community to see a doctor now. We got to go to Arcola, Weyburn, Oxbow...wherever they'll see you. Because I mean there's no walk-ins, we have a family, it's pretty stressful actually."

"We're going in a bad direction really. I have a pregnant fiance, it's a nightmare to see one doctor and one doctor alone. And things just need to change in Estevan I think."

In an interview with DiscoverEstevan on Tuesday, St. Joseph's Hospital Executive Director Greg Hoffort suggested the doctor issue was a retention issue, saying that many of the doctors who had been recruited in the past had no desire to stay in Estevan long-term.

"I found that very disturbing because it's not the community, it's not the people...and we've been told that by doctors," Caissie said. "It's not the community It's the management and the way that people are treated in the hospital. And it's got to change."

"You don't see this in Weyburn, you don't see this in other communities, smaller communities than Estevan. I think Estevan rallies behind our hospital quite generously, and to say that our community is the reason why doctors may be leaving is absurd," Caissie added.

Caissie said he would like to see new management and leadership at the hospital moving forward.

"I think a new set of eyes on ways to mange the hospital and to bring in doctors that want to stay here is the answer, and I think a lot of people in our community would have the same answer," he said.

Others expressed their opinions on Facebook.

"Definitely something wrong here, the way so many doctors come and go and nurses are overworked," commented one woman.

St. Joseph's Hospital announced yesterday that a new physician started practicing this week, with three more doctors set to arrive in town later this summer.