Southern Saskatchewan will be losing a leader, a doctor, and for many a friend all in one man's departure this summer.

Dr. Kevin Wasko will be departing for Mississauga, Ontario this summer in July, to join up with Trillium Health Partners. This is a decision he reached after considering many factors.

Perhaps the biggest professional factor was that by leaving, he will be forced to step down from his role with the Saskatchewan Health Authority as the Physician Executive for Integrated Rural Health. In the role, Dr. Wasko was in charge of the province's response to the COVID-19 Pandemic for rural communities.

Dr. Wasko held his leadership role with the SHA while still maintaining his practice as an ER doctor and physician in Swift Current. As you might imagine, this was an incredible workload to keep up with.

"In the last two years I've gotten increasingly tired," admitted Dr. Wasko. "I think COVID has been a challenge for almost everybody, but it has been particularly difficult as someone who both works at the front line of healthcare and also who is planning on a provincial scale in terms of our COVID response."

During his time in Swift Current, Dr. Wasko has built relationships with co-workers and patients that will last a lifetime. He and his wife had two children during the time they have lived in Swift Current, so 'home' will always be a word their family associates with southern Saskatchewan.

And yet, Dr. Wasko believes in order to become the best physician he can be, he needs to round out his experience.

"I did some soul searching about what I want at this point in my career and really felt that I wanted to focus, for a while, on clinical medicine and step away from leadership temporarily," revealed Dr. Wasko. "I wanted to grow as a clinician and challenge myself in a new and different uncomfortable environment. I knew by getting uncomfortable, I'd be able to become a better doctor."

Stepping into a more metropolitan area will ramp up the workflow, forcing Dr. Wasko to become better equipped for a larger variety of situations and cases. The idea as he says is to become a better, more rounded physician.

It would also not be wrong to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced some of his fatigue after being in a leadership role that's purpose was to combat the virus.

Dr. Wasko assured that he knows the majority of people understand the science and have taken the appropriate steps to protect themselves in accordance with public health guidelines. But the few who have called his efforts to help protect local populations tyranny, have started to eat into his patience.

"It's been very disheartening to see," Dr. Wasko admitted. "What really kind of caught me initially off guard, (was) that people didn't embrace wanting to get vaccinated and put an end to COVID right away. That was really hard for me to accept."

The recent outcry against the public health mandates as something other than an effort to help ensure public safety and well-being has proven frustrating for Dr. Wasko. It's been jarring for him to see such a vocal group of people denouncing his efforts.

"It's not that I want to leave the province because people may not agree with me," assured Dr. Wasko. "That's not the case. But to be honest, it has been a factor in making me tired and it seemed like it was an uphill battle for a long time."

Dr. Wasko will be concluding his work in the province in June.