OLDS - Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Nathan Cooper is applauding moves announced Friday by Health Minister Tyler Shandro.
But a local doctor is not.
The changes come after several rural doctors -- including eight at the Moose & Squirrel medical Clinic in Sundre -- have announced plans to withdraw services at rural hospitals because they said the changes announced made much of their job unaffordable. Some doctors in rural Alberta had threatened to leave altogether.
Effective immediately, the $60,000 cap on the Rural and Remote Northern Program (RRNP) will be abolished.
“This program will now be the most generous in the country,” a government news release says.
The province will continue to subsidize the medical liability insurance required by doctors to practise in high-risk specialties like obstetrics. As a result they will only have to pay $1,000 a year.
On-call rates will rise from $20 per hour to $23 per hour. On-call rates for rural physicians with special skills will increase from $11 to $20 an hour.
Medical liability rates for all rural physicians, including obstetrics, will be frozen at $1,000. Rates for all family physicians in Alberta will also be frozen at $1,000. Rates for all other urban physicians will range from a low of $1,200 to a maximum of $4,000.
One change announced last fall that took effect March 31 prevented rural physicians from billing for overhead costs while working in a hospital.
Shandro said that change will be eliminated for rural doctors. It’s being put on hold for those in urban areas while it’s reviewed by Alberta Health Services and doctors.
"Many rural physicians organize their business model around practising in hospital and clinics and rural hospitals, especially their emergency departments, (which) work differently than in cities," the minister said during a news conference.
On-call rates for all rural physicians have been increased from $20 per hour to $23 per hour.
Also, the government will pay $6 million to cover school costs for 20 medical students from rural parts of the province if they agree to come back home to practise medicine after graduating.
Cooper was unsure how long those young doctors would have to practise in rural communities in order to receive that money.
Rural, urban are different
Asked if Friday's announcement was a reversal of last fall's announcements, Cooper replied “It’s an acknowledgement that there is a difference between practising medicine in rural Alberta and in urban Alberta.”
“I think it’s very positive the work that has been able to be accomplished by my rural colleagues to ensure that health care remains strong and we continue to be able to retain and attract physicians to rural health.”
The vast majority of the United Conservative Party government’s MLAs – including Cooper, who is also speaker of the legislature — represent rural ridings.
Cooper said the government recognized that conditions are “significantly different” for rural doctors, compared to those who work in urban areas.
“First of all, many rural physicians are generalists and so they’re required to do a wide range of things. Many of them will have a family practice but also be an anaesthetist or the surgeon or carry ER shifts,” he said.
“So there’s a lot of demands that are placed on rural physicians that aren’t the same as an urban physician.
“That’s not to say that one works harder or less hard or otherwise; just that the demands are different. So this announcement is an acknowledgement of that and I think it’s a positive announcement.”
Cooper said he was among the rural MLAs who were under pressure from local doctors and residents regarding last fall’s changes to compensation for physicians.
After the cuts were announced, a delegation of health-care workers from the two clinics in Olds attended Olds council to air their concerns.
“I certainly had meetings or had a number of conversations, both with physicians here in Olds as well as throughout the constituency and heard some of the ways that the changes would have an impact on rural Alberta,” he said.
“And I think that the minister had always intended to have a rural physician plan but I also think that COVID (outbreak) and a number of other circumstances prevented that from happening in a more expedient manner.
“But I’m very pleased to see the announcement today because it is definitely going to address a lot of the concerns that both physicians and constituents have.”
Olds doctor disagrees
Dr. Martha Ingles, a physician in Olds speaking on behalf of herself only, was not impressed with the government's announcement.
"Today's announcement did very little to address the real concerns," she wrote in an email, describing the government as one that will "rip up agreements single-handed and walk away from active negotiations.
"Alberta physicians have asked Alberta Health (Services) and the health minister to return to negotiations. We have asked the AMA (Alberta Medical Association) to be involved in all negotiations for all physicians. Today the health minister stated the AMA has misled us.
"There is definitely a breach of trust, but not between physicians and the AMA. I trust the AMA," she added.
"The announcements today serve to undermine fair process and I believe are an attempt to reduce the role the AMA plays in ongoing negotiations. We as physicians have a constitutional right to representation, organization and to arbitration if needed. This is being undermined.
"An acquaintance of mine said it best: 'Ridiculous. He punched us in the face and now handed us an ice pack.'"
