Stabilizing practices, talking with government

July 19, 2023

Dear Members:

Community practices across the province are imploding and must be stabilized. We have been meeting with Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange and her team. The crisis in family medicine is the first priority at every table and it appears we are being heard.

Primary care physician leaders have been advising us to ensure we are all aligned as we discuss solutions and objectives. I can’t give you a timeline yet for response, but we have conveyed that urgent action is needed and that physicians will need to know what to expect. I will keep you updated as much as I can.

While we are dealing with the foundation of primary care, we have not forgotten other physicians or issues. Agreement implementation, including the physician compensation strategy, is moving again after the election shut down (e.g., AHS stipends and on-call, rate review, allocations, etc.). The Board meets this week for an update and to provide direction on all these things. We will also be discussing the newly released mandate letter from the Premier to the Minister of Health.

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.'"