The Beautiful Plains Community Medical Clinic in Neepawa, Manitoba, is currently training its second group of new doctors as part of a local effort to improve healthcare access. This program, which began in July 2024, places medical graduates in the community for two years of hands-on training to encourage them to live and work in the region long-term. Local training is a key part of the town’s plan to keep medical staff in the area as the local population continues to grow.
A 2025 report from Doctors Manitoba showed that only 60 percent of medical students and residents plan to stay in the province to work after they finish their studies. To help fix this, the Neepawa program focuses on residents like Dr. Sydney McLaughlin, a local native who is now completing her second year of training in her home community. Dr. Nichelle Desilets, a doctor at the Neepawa clinic, is currently leading the provincial doctors organization as its president.
The training initiative is being paired with a major expansion of healthcare facilities, as construction on the new Neepawa Health Centre is now 75 percent finished. Prairie Mountain Health expects the building to be handed over to the health authority in mid-2026. Once it opens, the new hospital will offer 63 beds for patient care and a new dialysis unit to support the community.
