Considering health care has been the leading hot button political issue for the average Canadian — and Albertan — for years, it came as little surprise provincial Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky was asked most of the tough questions during a 10-member cabinet tour that landed in Bonnyville Tuesday.
Zwozdesky was asked questions about town taxpayers being on the hook to pay for Bonnyville's nurse practitioner position rather than his ministry, the perceived lack of funding for more spaces to graduate and train new physicians, why South African doctors are no longer being accepted in Alberta and other challenges facing the provincial health care system.
His ministry offers numerous incentive programs to try and attract young physicians to rural communities like Bonnyville, but “at the end of the day, it's entirely up to the doctors where they choose to practice … we can't force them to practice here (in Alberta),” said Zwozdesky.
Many people might not realize it, but because of numerous government-funded incentive programs, Alberta's physicians are the highest-paid in Canada, but this still hasn't solved the growing problem of doctor recruitment and retention, he said.
A total of 10 provincial ministers accepted the invitation from Cold Lake-Bonnyville MLA Genia Leskiw to visit the area. The ministers joined Leskiw for a public meeting in Cold Lake, before travelling to Bonnyville for a Conversation With the Ministers Tuesday afternoon.
The other ministers joining Zwozdesky included Len Webber, Minister of Aboriginal Relations; Cindy Ady, Minister of Tourism, Parks and Recreation; Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit; Jack Hayden, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development; Frank Oberle, Solictor General and Minister of Public Safety; Yvonne Fritz, Minister of Children and Youth Services; Hector Goudreau, Minister of Municipal Affairs; and Dave Hancock, Minister of Education; and Ray Danyluk, Minister of Infrastructure.
A crowd of about 130 members of the public, including numerous members of MD of Bonnyville and Town of Bonnyville council, attended the cabinet tour.
While Zwozdesky politely answered several questions about the province's health care system, Hayden answered questions about government programs attempting to keep young people involved in the agriculture industry, Goudreau hinted the government is looking at new and improved funding methods for volunteer firefighters and Danyluk insisted controversial bills drawn up by the provincial PCs will not eliminate property rights for Albertans.
Gene Sobolewski, a Town of Bonnyville councillor, asked Zwozdesky why the province is forcing the town to pay for a nurse practitioner because he feels it should be the province's responsibility.
Zwozdesky explained the province has given the responsibility of hiring nurse practitioners — which he called a position somewhere between a registered nurse and physician — to regional Primary Care Networks (PCN).
There are mechanisms for local PCNs to apply for funding through Alberta Health Services, but the Bonnyville PCN recently declined an offer of $50 per patient to pay for the town's nurse practitioner position, said Zwozdesky.
Zwozdesky said “progress is being made, but I'm not in a position to give an answer now” but he's confident a final funding solution for the nurse practitioner's position can be found soon.
Nestor Kunec, a retired teacher and veteran trustee with the Northern Lights School District, asked Zwozdesky why his ministry isn't graduating more doctors from medical schools at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and University of Calgary.
“The fact you say you don't have the spaces is an illusion … we should be graduating 500 more doctors in both major cities,” said Kunec.
Zwozdesky said there have been an additional 180 spaces for both medical schools this year and they're hoping to increase those numbers incrementally in coming years.
The reality is you can't dictate where doctors will practice and many Alberta born and trained physicians decide to practice in the United States, where they can make two or three times the money, he said.
His ministry offers numerous incentive programs to keep Alberta doctors in this province, especially in rural communities, and there have been many success stories, but there is still plenty of work to do, Zwozdesky said.
Alberta was extremely successful in recruiting hundreds of doctors from South Africa, but the province's College of Physicians and Surgeons, which looks after licensing and accrediting foreign doctors, could not reach an agreement with the South African government, he said.
But his government continues to recruit hundreds of qualified doctors from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, he said.
Hayden told the audience his ministry is doing its best to attract and entice young people to follow in their ancestor's footsteps and pursue a career in agriculture.
“The biggest hurdle is capital … lending money,” he said. “It costs in the neighbourhood of $1 to $1.5 million to start up a decent-sized farm and that's a lot of money.
“We're working to attract venture capital and establish more markets for diversified crops. I think the biggest thing is to provide affordable loans to young people who want to remain in agriculture and that's what we're trying to work on.”
Goudreau said his government committed to providing more than $11 billion in Municipal Sustainability Initiative (MSI) funding a decade ago and remains on target to achieve that goal.
The government provided more than $840 million in MSI funding to Alberta municipalities in 2010 and Goudreau hinted there will be “very good news” when the provincial budget is passed later this week to continue the funding.
“As long as our government is there, these dollars will flow,” he said.
Goudreau said the decrease in the number of volunteer firefighters across Alberta, particularly in small, rural communities, remains a significant problem.
“It's a big, big issue, especially in rural Alberta,” he said. “We need to find a solution that will work.”
While he doesn't expect any significant increases in the provincial budget for 2011, his ministry is looking at increased funding and new initiatives to attract and retain more volunteer firefighters, he said.
Leskiw thanked the ministers for visiting Cold Lake and Bonnyville and listening to the concerns of average citizens.
