Delays in family doctor pay deal put lives at risk, says Alberta Medical Association

Alberta doctors are accusing the provincial government of breaking its promises to lock in a new payment model for primary care physicians as the family doctor shortage drags on.

The Alberta Medical Association has been working for a year to get in place a new payment model for family doctors and rural generalists.

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange has publicly committed to a new deal on a number of occasions.

A memorandum of understanding was signed last October, and LaGrange has also publicly stated a new model would be in place this fall.

"They are not putting their money where their mouth is and they are not putting actions to their words," said Dr. Paul Parks, AMA past president, during a Monday news conference.

"I don't think we can wait any longer."

Parks said the association formally submitted its primary care stabilization proposal to the government in late 2023. It also put forward a plan for acute care.

Parks said he's received many private assurances a deal is coming. In July, according to Parks, doctors were told the premier had signed off on the deal.

After more delays, Parks said he received a commitment from the premier in August that the deal would be announced in September.

"Unfortunately, the impact of indecision and inaction is that Albertans' health care access will deteriorate and many will suffer. And some will sadly and needlessly die," said Parks.

The primary care pay model would add an additional $200-250 million a year to the current physician services budget, according to Parks.

A significant proportion of that money would be operational in nature, he said, going to support business costs associated with running a clinic and to help doctors keep their clinics open.

"There is nothing left to be done other than a signature, Treasury Board and an announcement," said Dr. Shelley Duggan, the Alberta Medical Association's new president.

"Our team has been working on implementation for the past couple of months. So if we were to have an announcement this week, we could get rolling.… So we are not the barrier here."