Physicians are having difficulty maintaining after hours clinics due to an inability to get the office staff needed.

President of the NLMA, Dr. Stephen Major, says many family doctors who try to extend their hours beyond the regular work day are finding it hard to staff their clinics.

Major says after hours clinics can play a critical role in helping to free up demand at emergency rooms.

He calls the administrative staffing issue a “crisis.”

“The system itself isn’t set up in a way to necessarily help physicians to work those evenings. There are staffing issues. As we know; we’re into a crisis even getting office administration staff. So it’s not always as simple to say ‘I’m going to run an evening or weekend clinic’ if you can’t get the staff to operate the clinic with you.”