EDMONTON — Following their gathering last week, the Alberta Medical Association has been increasingly vocal in their disappointment with the provincial government for failing to implement a new Primary Care Compensation Model, as promised. This lack of action comes after months and months of delays.
“It’s beyond time for the Premier and Health Minister to act to stabilize primary care in Alberta, which means getting the new Primary Care Compensation Model in place,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “Too many families have already had to go for years without access to a family doctor, and this government’s failure to keep their promise to Alberta physicians is making our situation even worse. Any further delay will mean more and more family doctors close their practices and leave our province.”
This is happening as Alberta's population is booming and Albertans are increasingly concerned about accessing the health care they need. Hundreds of thousands of Albertans don’t have access to a family physician, and temporary hospital closures have been widespread all summer due to short staffing.
A report released by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) yesterday shows that provinces spent $1.6 billion dollars on for-profit nursing agencies last year to make up for a lack of stable staffing and long-term workforce planning. The AMA and unions representing Alberta’s health care workers have repeatedly raised the alarm, and called for action to recruit and retain health care workers. It’s increasingly undeniable that widespread, chronic short-staffing is harming not only patients and health care workers, but our entire public health care system.
“A shortage of doctors and other skilled health professionals is THE issue in our public health care system right now. We need a government laser focused on the frontline workforce to stabilize our health care system,” said Gallaway. “Which is why, for years now, we have been calling on our provincial government to show some leadership on developing a health care workforce plan that prioritizes retention, while recruiting and training the health care workers we need to provide care going forward.”
As the AMA has said: "Empty promises will not sustain Alberta’s family doctors. The Premier and the Minister of Health must act now.’”
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