Newly-released information from the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) showing a steep decline in the number of doctors accepting new patients in Alberta, including in this zone, should be a concern for the community-at-large.
Whether Premier Danielle Smith and her UCP colleagues are prepared to do what needs to be done to reverse this very troubling trend remains to be seen.
What is known is that with the health of residents of all ages in all regions at stake, failing to turn things around may end up having devastating long-term impacts.
In 2020, 887 physicians were accepting new patients, including 67 in the central zone. In 2023, the numbers are dramatically different, with only 197 doctors accepting new patients, including 26 in the central zone.
AMA president Dr. Fredrykka Rinaldi says the downward trend is certainly worrying.
“It its really concerning for Albertans,” Rinaldi reportedly said. “Alberta so far has done zip, nothing. Our competition advantage in terms of retaining or attracting physicians is in the waste bin right now.
“Given how fractured the system is, there’s no point in taking on new patients when you already know your own patients are waiting six months beyond the recommended wait list.”
In her recent mandate letter to the minister of Alberta Health, Premier Danielle Smith called on Adriana LaGrange to, among other things, work to “address rural health challenges such as access to health-care professionals (and work) with municipalities, post-secondary institutions, doctors, and allied health providers to identify strategies to attract and retain health-care workers to rural Alberta.”
It will sure be interesting to see in, say, six months time whether the Smith government has done what needs to be done to reverse this very troubling trend when it comes to Albertans seeking physicians.
How far will things be allowed to go before what is now being described by the head of Alberta’s doctors as a “really concerning” situation becomes a full-blown health-care crisis?
Dan Singleton is an editor with the Albertan.
