LETHBRIDGE — Two family doctors at the Campbell Clinic in Lethbridge recently posted public letters explaining why they are leaving their practices, pointing the finger squarely at the government and Health Minister for their failure to listen to Alberta’s physicians and act to sustain primary care.
“An entirely predictable scenario is playing out when it comes to family doctors in Alberta,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director at Friends of Medicare. “Doctors have made it explicitly clear that without meaningful action from the provincial government—and soon—they will pack up, close their practices and leave Alberta for better jurisdictions to work in, such as British Columbia. We’re seeing it happen in Lethbridge with the loss of two more doctors.”
Lethbridge has been one of the regions most impacted by the ongoing physician shortage, and has long lacked family doctors accepting new patients. Across the province there are hundreds of thousands of Albertans who don’t have access to a family physician, and there have continued to be ongoing, widespread temporary facility closures and service reductions, including in Lethbridge and southern Alberta.
A lack of accessible community and primary care creates a ripple effect throughout our health care system, when patients are forced to instead seek care from our already-strained emergency departments. This past summer, Alberta Health Services warned of higher than average wait-times at the ER at the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge due to a temporary physician reduction.
“The government promised to have a new compensation model for physicians in place by September. They’ve broken that promise and provided no clear timelines for action,” said Gallaway. “The results of that inaction are playing out before our eyes. Alberta’s doctors are obviously done waiting.”
A shortage of doctors and other skilled health professionals is the most pressing issue in Alberta’s public health care system right now. There is a desperate need for a health care workforce plan focused on retention and recruitment. But rather than putting their focus where we need it most, on stabilizing health care, the government is continuing to push forward with their chaotic restructuring and privatization plans which are simply creating more confusion and destruction.
“We can stabilize and rebuild our public health care system if we choose to. Lethbridge deserves better, and all of Alberta deserves better. We deserve a government willing to act immediately to stabilize primary care,” concluded Gallaway.
Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, will be in Lethbridge tomorrow to speak to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs at lunchtime, and to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Lethbridge Chapter of Friends of Medicare. Both events are open to the public.