The last remaining full-time doctor at a walk-in clinic downtown that serves about 6,000 patients per year will likely have to abandon the practice before the end of the month.

The departure of Dr. Shahid Syed would leave many of the patients who come through River Valley Medical Clinic each year without a family doctor. It would mean many others already absent a general practitioner would have one less physician to go to unannounced.

The government and the Yukon Medical Council have told Syed — practising in the territory for at least the last five years — that his contract with the territory and his medical licence will not be renewed unless he goes south to pass the Canadian family practice exam with the College of Family Physicians of Canada, a reliable source told the Star Monday.

Syed’s dilemma comes several years after Health and Social Services cancelled its special licence program to lure foreign doctors to the territory, which resulted in multiple physicians leaving the territory.

The department did not return calls in time to answer questions around whether the clinic — owned by a retired physician — is closing and, if not, how many doctors would be rotating through it.

Mike Emslie, 81, said in an interview today he was concerned about the likely loss of his family doctor.

“I’ve been a patient of his ever since he’s been here and I’ve got nothing but good service,” said the 45-year Whitehorse resident. “I’ve found him nothing but excellent. He’s a no-nonsense doctor.”

Emslie, who turns 82 on Thursday and is due for an operation at Whitehorse General Hospital, has been told to find a new doctor. He wondered where the 6,000 “orphaned” patients — 20 per day, six days a week — at River Valley would go.

“There’s going to be a lot of people with no doctor in the community and no hope of getting one,” he said.

Jack Lenz, a lifelong Whitehorse resident, turned to Syed when Pine Medical Clinic temporarily closed in 2013 after Dr. Lis Densmore’s departure left about 2,000 patients looking for physicians.

“I’ve been having trouble trying to find a doctor,” said Lenz, 24. “My concern is there’s going to be temporary doctors (at River Valley) or I’m going to have to find another doctor to go to.

“I’m not used to trying to explain something to someone that I don’t know, especially if it’s my own body. I get more comfortable if it’s someone I know,” he told the Star today.

One week in 2013, when he was “sicker than a dog,” Syed made sure Lenz was taken care of, he added. “He was pretty good, straight forward. He made sure I got the right prescriptions.”

Neither Health and Social Services nor the Yukon Medical Council provided comment by press time this afternoon. Syed also declined comment.

The medical council’s website states: “There is currently a need for family physicians in the Yukon that cannot be met by physicians with a full, unrestricted licence.”

One reason Syed has not taken time out to prepare for and take the required exam is that too many patients would be left in the lurch, a reliable source said in an interview.

On the counter at 106 Lambert, where the clinic is located, sits a petition in support of Syed’s “exemplary service to our community.” It is addressed to Health Minister Doug Graham and sports dozens of names.

“We don’t want to see a different doctor every time we visit. We want to foster a long-term doctor/patient relationship,” the petition reads.

“The health of our families, children and neighbours depend on this!”