Friends of Medicare slams Alberta's delays to physician compensation deal
Friends of Medicare says while Tuesday's announcement of financial support for Alberta's rural health initiatives is welcome news, frustration is continuing to mount over the government's perceived lack of action on its promised physician compensation model.
Health Minister Adriana LaGrange announced Tuesday that $6 million will go to the Rural Recruitment Grant and another $6 million will go to the Municipality Supported Clinic Grant.
"These grants build on our recently announced Rural Health Action Plan to improve rural health care, and are part of our unwavering commitment to address rural health challenges," she said.
Chris Galloway, executive director with Friends of Medicare, says the province is refusing to learn that you "can't recruit your way out of a retention problem."
"We were supposed to have that compensation plan in September, and doctors are leaving our province because that deal hasn't been signed," he said.
"We're not going to recruit people into those communities as we're losing them and stay ahead, so we're missing that piece of the puzzle, and it's the same throughout the healthcare workforce."
Galloway says his team has been calling for a workforce plan for the province for years, and yet plans to retain physicians remain unaddressed.
High River loses family doctor
Bob Black is a 78-year-old resident of High River who recently lost his longtime family doctor, one he had gone to for more than a dozen years.
Dr. Benjamin Andruski is closing his practice in the southern Alberta town this January.
"Arriving at this conclusion has not been easy," Andruski said in a letter to his patients.
"Over the past several months, I've carefully considered many factors both personal and professional. Ultimately, I've concluded that this transition is both necessary and the right thing for myself and my family."
That news isn't sitting well with Black, who has lung and heart problems that need to be attended to on a regular basis
"Now, I have nowhere else to go," said Black.
"I'm beginning to wonder if we're in the right province, or what's happening here. We always have great health care here, and it's scaring me. I lost a brother last year, six years younger than I am, and I know his family kind of believes that it's because they couldn't get the help that they needed on time, so I'm worried that could happen to me."
Black notes that compensation for family physicians is essential considering that the province estimated earlier this year that up to 700,000 Albertans didn't have a family physician.
The Alberta Medical Association (AMA) also cited concerns in a recent September 2024 survey which found that 58 per cent of Alberta physicians are planning to leave their practice by 2029.
AMA President Dr. Shelley Duggan says these statistics are alarming, especially given the trickle-down effect they could have for emergency departments.
"We know that that puts a huge strain on the system, it's also very expensive, so by investing in a physician compensation care model, that also contributes to helping the acute care system, and absolutely, primary care needs to be the foundation," Duggan told CTV News.
"We really need to get this deal done, because we have so many things that we need to work on in healthcare, and this just needs to get done."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Donald Trump picks former U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra as ambassador to Canada
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has nominated former diplomat and U.S. congressman Pete Hoekstra to be the American ambassador to Canada.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.
This is how much money you need to make to buy a house in Canada's largest cities
The average salary needed to buy a home keeps inching down in cities across Canada, according to the latest data.
'My two daughters were sleeping': London Ont. family in shock after their home riddled with gunfire
A London father and son they’re shocked and confused after their home was riddled with bullets while young children were sleeping inside.
Smuggler arrested with 300 tarantulas strapped to his body
Police in Peru have arrested a man caught trying to leave the country with 320 tarantulas, 110 centipedes and nine bullet ants strapped to his body.
Boissonnault out of cabinet to 'focus on clearing the allegations,' Trudeau announces
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced embattled minister Randy Boissonnault is out of cabinet.
Baby dies after being reported missing in midtown Toronto: police
A four-month-old baby is dead after what Toronto police are calling a “suspicious incident” at a Toronto Community Housing building in the city’s midtown area on Wednesday afternoon.
Sask. woman who refused to provide breath sample did not break the law, court finds
A Saskatchewan woman who refused to provide a breath sample after being stopped by police in Regina did not break the law – as the officer's request was deemed not lawful given the circumstances.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.