Friends of Medicare slams Alberta's delays to physician compensation deal

A stock photo of a stethoscope. (Pixabay)

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."