Rural emergency departments struggling with physician shortage

LETHBRIDGE -

Many communities across Alberta have been dealing with a shortage of physicians.

The problem is being felt the most in the rural areas of the province.

Fort Macleod's emergency department is closed due to a lack of physician coverage.

It's set to reopen Monday evening but this is at least the fifth time the emergency department has closed since the start of June.

"In the smaller rural areas, it's the family physicians that staff the hospitals and the emergency departments. It's the rural generalists who are providing that care, so as communities lose those physicians, not only do they lose access to primary care, their hospitals close," said Dr. Paul Parks, Alberta Medical Association (AMA) president.

The AMA estimates at least 650,000 Albertans currently don't have a family doctor.

The association is currently working with the province on new compensation packages for family and acute care to attract more doctors but so far, progress has been slow.

"I think the biggest issue is around finances, having to take it to treasury board, to all the MLAs and government and get it approved because it will require some upfront investment," Parks said.

Over the weekend, Premier Danielle Smith spoke about the issue on her radio show, Your Province. Your Premier.

A deal on a funding model for family physicians is expected by the end of September.

During the show, Smith said, "We need doctors to have a minimum patient load of 500. We have to have doctors working in rural hospitals, yes, but if you're going to make sure that when you call and make an appointment, you have to have a doctor with enough patients so that they're working more than one day a week."

According to Alberta Health Services (AHS), summer is difficult for staff as doctors go on vacation.

But AHS says it's committed to attracting more doctors to the province.

"Our goal is always to keep our sites operating as normal to ensure that patients receive safe, quality care where and when they need it. To achieve this goal, it is critical we retain and recruit a healthy workforce," AHS said in a statement.