OLDS — Town councillors are expected to further discuss a formal process to attract and keep more health-care professionals in Olds.
That idea came up during council’s policies and priorities meeting this month when council received a presentation on the province’s Rural Health Professionals Action Plan (RHPAP).
That presentation, which lasted about 35 minutes, was made by Alicia Fox, rural community consultant for the south central zone of RHPAP.
Olds used to have a physicians attraction and retention committee. It became dormant in 2017.
Fox indicated that might be something the town might want to revive in some fashion. She said she knew of at least one health-care professional who might be willing to help.
Fox said RHPAP has lots of resources to assist in that process.
Councillors Darren Wilson and Heather Ryan expressed interest in getting more details on that idea.
Ryan also said it was her understanding that recruiting and retaining health-care professionals was one of the responsibilities of the Economic Development Secretariat when it was set up a few years ago.
Acting chief administrative officer Sheena Linderman agreed to look into that question and flesh out other aspects of the plan for council at a later date.
Deputy mayor James Cummings liked that idea.
He suggested the matter is something that could be revisited in the near future, perhaps after a new chief administrative officer is hired.
Fox said one convenient way to obtain information is RHPAP’s Attraction and Retention (A&R) conferences. The next one is scheduled to occur Oct. 4-6 in Drayton Valley.
Fox also noted that A & R grants are also available to help committees do their work.
Ryan asked if there’s a limit on the number of doctors a community like Olds can have, because she’s heard that.
The answer to that is complicated, Fox said. She offered to put the Town of Olds in touch with someone -- likely at Alberta Health Services (AHS) – who can answer that question.
Ryan said it would be great to get that answer, because it would be pointless to set up a committee to attract and retain more health-care professionals if the Olds already has hit the limit for those professions.
Recently, concern was raised that not all doctors in Olds have hospital privileges – the ability to personally take care of one's patients in the hospital.
“Does every physician – should every physician -- expect to have access to hospital privileges, appointments, that sort of thing,” Wilson asked.
That too depends on a number of factors, Fox said, adding she may not know all the complexities.
Ryan and Coun. Dan Daley wondered about the feasibility of recruiting foreign physicians to practise in Olds.
Fox said that can be done, but doctors trained in other countries have many hoops to jump through, including passing entrance exams. That can be a very expensive process.
Fox said AHS can and does sponsor foreign-trained doctors. Ryan asked if they can be sponsored in other ways – via private clinics for example. Fox said that too can be done. She noted that in some cases, municipalities have sponsored doctors.
“Some municipalities do choose to put up money. We do not necessarily encourage that,” she said.
