The clinic in Altona isn't losing one of its physicians after all.

Dr. Kyle Winning has reconsidered his decision to move his practice from the Altona and District Clinic to Kenora at the end of the year.

"This is great news. We're very pleased," said clinic manager, Connie Friesen, who notes work is underway to create a better work/life balance in Dr. Winning's schedule. In fact, she says this is something they're looking to do for their entire physician contingent as a retention strategy.

"It's not unusual for a doctor to work sixty to seventy hours a week when they are doing call shifts (on top of their clinic hours)...and so we are trying to find ways to bring their work week into a more manageable timeframe," she explained.

According to Friesen, this will likely mean adjusting their clinic schedules to include more flexibility.

As a result, administrators haven't pumped the brakes on recruitment efforts that were launched when Dr. Winning announced his planned departure. Friesen says an extra physician will be required in order to accommodate these new doctor schedules while maintaining the current number of clinic appointments.

There is no timeline for when a new doctor would join the team at the Altona clinic. Friesen says renovations to the facility will be required in order to accommodate another physician, and officials are currently in the process of researching what that would look like.