Alberta to address rural doctor shortages through training in Lethbridge and Grande Prairie
CTV
The provincial government has unveiled its plan to bring more physicians to areas that are currently underserved.
The provincial government has unveiled its plan to bring more physicians to areas that are currently underserved.
Health Minister Jason Copping and Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides announced $1 million in funding for regional post-secondary institutions, including the University of Lethbridge and and Northwestern Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, to explore ways of offering medical education outside of Alberta's two largest cities.
Currently, the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta are the only medical schools in the province.
"It's been a very tough three years for physicians but I think we're turning the corner," said Copping. "Alberta, historically, has been one of the best places in Canada — the best place in Canada — to practise medicine and we're working very hard to keep it that way.
"We still have a lot of work to do though because the overall supply is not the only issue. We need more physicians and, in particular, we need them in smaller communities where it's harder to recruit them and harder to keep them.
"The best way to recruit people to the place you want them to work is to train them there."
Several rural communities in Alberta, including Airdrie, Milk River, Ponoka and Beaverlodge, have temporarily closed their emergency departments due to a dearth of available physicians.
