Alberta doctors are anxious for the provincial government to finally implement the plan to help save primary care clinics and attract more family physicians to the province.
"Every week now I'm getting contacted by doctors who are not renewing their leases and who are not going to carry on because they feel hopeless," said Dr. Paul Parks, Alberta Medical Association president.
How many doctors were lost this summer is unknown since they tend to keep their license for a couple of years so it doesn't look like they left Alberta, he added.
Both the AMA and the province support the new Physician Comprehensive Care Model that will increase funding to doctors so they can take on more patients and can build team-based care to increase access to primary care.
"The model is ready to go. We've just got to push it over the finish line," Parks said.
He said when he spoke to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and Premier Danielle Smith last week they were eager to roll out the model which could be announced in early September. But family doctors need to know now.
In January, an AMA survey showed 61 per cent of family physicians were considering leaving Alberta’s health care system, either through early retirement or working in other provinces with better supports for medical practices.
Parks said the new model, approved by the province and the AMA in April, will increase payments to practices by about $100,000, to make Alberta competitive with the other western provinces when it comes to attracting doctors.
"We're in a deficit. We've lost almost 3,000 doctors over the last five years so we're way behind."
"We're losing more and more in the small communities, . . . causing so many of the smaller community emergency departments to close and hospital closures."
Once the plan is announced it will still take a couple of months to improve access to care. He hoped to see a difference early in the new year, or sooner.
"We need to get this announced. It will signal to everyone that Alberta is a place where you will be able to make a living and successfully run your longitudinal family practice," Parks said.
The Minister of Health's office said Alberta’s government is committed to ensuring that Albertans have access to care when and where they need it.
"We are confident we will finalize the model with AMA and hope to share those details as soon as we are able," said a statement from the minister's office.
The office said Dr. Parks is aware of the government's commitment to primary care. The Health Minister and Parks have an open line of communication and speak multiple times on any given week.
The government has provided an additional $157 million this year towards panel management support and transition funding for primary care. Department-level working groups are also making significant progress on multiple items, including the Acute Care Stabilization Plan.
"Alberta is an attractive place to work as a physician – in the recent College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta quarterly report, Alberta registered nearly 500 more physicians since the second quarter of 2023."
