OLDS — A local retired doctor is worried there aren't enough doctors available to see Olds and area patients in offices on any given day in Olds.
But an Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson disagrees with that statement.
Dr. Clarence Graff says the rule of thumb is that doctors need a patient load of one doctor for every 1,400 patients. However, he says health officials in the region have told him there are already too many doctors in Olds because when you add them all up between two clinics, there are about 30.
Graff says Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the same thing in a letter to him after he expressed his concerns about the matter.
Graff says those calculations are misleading, because he says many of those doctors aren't available for patients on say a 9-5 five-days-a-week basis.
He says some specialize in areas like cosmetic surgery, others work part-time and still others are busy assisting other doctors with operations.
Graff says as a result, realistically, there are only about 10 doctors in Olds and area available to be seen on a 9-5 five-days-a-week basis for a town population of about 9,100 and a total trading area of roughly 28,000 people.
“So what is available – absolute max, which is probably more than reality – is that 10 doctors are available in Olds every day to see patients,” Graff said.
“And that doesn’t take into account for holidays or absentee or (other reasons).”
Graff says he personally knows of several area people who would like to see/have a family doctor in Olds but cannot, due to the shortage.
He said he understands why certain doctors would choose to work as they do.
"It’s not up to me to tell people what they should do and I fully endorse the idea that each doctor can do whatever they want to do because they are private people,” he said.
“All I am saying right now is there are only 10 doctors per day who are providing family practice services in Olds.”
In an emailed statement to The Albertan, Melissa Ballantyne, manager of communications and community engagement for the AHS central zone said, “at this time there are currently 19 general practice (GP) physicians – or 17.9 FTE – serving the community of Olds. This includes clinic work, ED, inpatients and long term care.
“This makes for a ratio of 672 patients to one physician, based on the local population.
“Based on our workforce planning forecasting, there is not urgent need in the community for additional physicians.”
Graff says it's very hard to recruit doctors for the area because of government policies.
He says Canadian-trained doctors don't want to practice in rural Alberta due to recent Alberta government rules/policies regarding pay and other expenses, so they move to other parts of Canada or out-of-country.
Graff says one solution might be to hire foreign-trained doctors and he’s tried to do so for his clinic, but he says new rules make it hard to do so.
However, he says foreign doctors can still be hired in other nearby communities like Sundre, Didsbury or Innisfail.
"Personally, I’ve been advertising for over a year for somebody to fill a position and my only application is one female from Pakistan who was going into first-year medicine in China,” Graff said.
However, he said he had to tell her that he wouldn’t be able to hire her, at least in the near future, due to AHS rules.
“I said to her, ‘we’d love to have you here but you’re probably 14 years away from qualifying to come to Canada. When you get close, if I’m still alive, please phone me. I’d be happy to talk to you then.’”
“AHS recruits to communities based on need, not to individual clinics which are independently operated by physicians,” Ballantyne wrote.
“The recruitment process allows prospective physicians to choose freely between business options available in a community.
“There are opportunities through AHS Medical Affairs for the sponsorship for foreign-trained physicians. The process and requirements are the same across the central zone.”
Ballantyne said the overall goal of AHS is to “ensure that residents have access to the services they require in an appropriate and sustainable manner.
“Workforce planning is a tool that enables us to successfully plan for appropriate physician access now, and into the future.
“The process evaluates where and when physicians are needed, so that the right services are in the right place at the right time.”
