Brief update on government discussions.
August 4, 2023
Dear Members,
I promised to keep you apprised about discussions with government. There have been numerous government meetings in recent weeks including with the Board of Directors, primary care physician leaders and senior staff. We have communicated at every opportunity that there is a deepening crisis in primary care and that action is needed now to stabilize community family medicine clinics. The minister has listened to our concerns.
Yesterday we (the Section of Family Medicine, Section of Rural Medicine and Alberta Medical Association) appreciated an invitation to meet with the premier. While no commitments have been made, Premier Smith is open to working together on immediate and short-term proposals.
We will persevere, urgently, and press for action. I will keep you informed.
You are always welcome to share your thoughts with me. You can email me via president@albertadoctors.org. You can also comment on this letter on the AMA website.
Regards,
fred Rinaldi, MD, CCFP, FCFP, LLB, MBA, MPA(HSA), BCom
President, Alberta Medical Association
"Fate whispers to the warrior, 'You can not withstand the storm.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.'"
2 comments
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David Smyth
1:52 PM on August 04, 2023
That AMA had their chance. Let clinics tell you what they want not PCNs, not AMA admin, only people with money invested in the system that actually pay overhead and take on continuity of care. Physicians that just float around and skim the cream without patient attachment should get paid at a lower rate. Forget the wasteful complex care codes that many doctors abused. Support the doctors with skin in the game that have patients. Make it more financially worthwhile to work in a clinic than work out of a brief case. Stop using doctors in AHS for easy work like OR assist or sedation for scoping. This draws doctors away from primary direct care. At least let them take a huge pay cut for doing mindless work with no overhead.
Debbie Halwas
3:44 PM on August 08, 2023
I am currently working as a medical billing clerk in a small clinic in NW Edmonton. In 2022 we had a staff of 4 GP's that had been practicing here for at least a few years. In Dec 2022 we had one physician close her practice, we immediately started advertising for a replacement. In June 2023 we lost the 2nd physician relocated to BC and received a large bonus for opening a practice there.
Still advertising for the 1st physician we stepped up our advertising to no avail. We have advertised in every known website and physician sites plus to date have sent out approx. 150 letters to physicians inviting them to meet with us and see our clinic. To date we have not received 1 response except from a headhunter company who offered to find us an out of country physicians for $30,000. Now we got notice that our 3rd physician will be leaving on Mat leave in mid November. We have over 5000 patients who were served by this clinic. I would like to know how we are expected to survive with 1 now overworked physician and not even one candidate to replace any of the three physicians who we have lost. Government needs to take a hard look at what is happening in primary care and where we are supposed to send our 5000 patients when we are forced to close.