POLITICAL LEADERS PLEDGE TO FIX AILING HEALTH SYSTEM

With the health care crisis weighing heavily on the minds of Albertans, politicians vying for their votes in the May election are proposing new spending to address the shortage of health professionals, particularly in rural areas.

The UCP has announced a $158-million plan to attract and retain rural physicians, recruit internationally trained nurses, and fund a program to support nurses immigrating to Alberta.

“What success looks like to us is every Albertan has access to a health home … (and) that all the services that we are providing, in all the facilities across the province, have the staff that they need to provide those services,” said Health Minister Jason Copping. Like many other jurisdictions, Alberta is struggling to repair health services after three years of COVID 19 pandemic. The crisis exposed shortcomings like a shortage of family doctors. The Canadian Institute of Health estimates 15 per cent of Albertans do not have a primary health provider.

Under the UCP plan, $90 million would be allocated to strengthening programs to attract and retain rural physicians; $29 million to fulfil the government’s commitment in the agreement signed with the Alberta Medical Association that focuses on underserviced rural and remote communities; $7 million to recruit internationally trained nurses from the United States and the United Kingdom; $1 million to fund the provincial Nurse Navigator program which support all nurses immigrating to Alberta.

More broadly, the UCP is promising “genuine health care reform” if elected. It involves restoring decision making closer to point-of-care and direct more resources to frontline care, reducing wait times for surgeries and expanding supports for mental health and addictions, including for schools and families. The UCP got a poor review from Bobby-Joe Borobey, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. She said its plan is short on detail to address shortages in all areas – doctors, nurses, continuing care, technicians, even security guards. Health care staff “are sacrificing and suffering. So they go to work, they know they’re gonna go to work short, and that causes exhaustion, both physical and mental exhaustion. They are near burnout if they’re not already there,” she said.

The NDP is proposing a $150-million-a-year plan to “modernize” health care. It calls for hiring health professionals who would be organized in Primary Health Teams. “Instead of a patient only having one doctor be responsible for them, a team can include multiple doctors working in partnership with other primary care providers and team members, including nurse practitioners, Registered and Licensed Practical Nurses, administrators, mental health therapists, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals,” the opposition NDP said.

“Our commitment to integrated team-based care delivered in Family Health Clinics will mean that within 10 years, up to 1 million more Albertans will have access to a doctor within a day or two.”

If it forms government, the NDP would quickly recruit 1,500 health professionals and take the pressure off hospitals and ambulances, said NDP leader Rachel Notley.

“We need to keep (physicians) wanting to do this job. This is not ‘field of dreams.’ It’s a real thing that’s come as a result of multiple years of conversations with family practitioners …They don’t necessarily want to be working 80 hours a week running their own clinic. They’d prefer to be in a team so they can focus on what they do best, which is providing care to Albertans,” she said.

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