LAKELAND – Increased funding from Budget 2023 will improve rural healthcare, said Alberta Minister of Health Jason Copping last Thursday.
During a media round table, Copping acknowledged that staff shortage is one of the biggest challenges in rural healthcare, resulting to temporary closures of some health services in some communities.
Lac La Biche and St. Paul hospitals continue to see a reduced number of acute care beds open, although several beds were reopened in St. Paul earlier this year. Surgery and obstetrics services have also been disrupted at times at both hospitals.
In Elk Point, the emergency department was only open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. since Jan. 16, recently reopening 24/7 as of March 31.
The minister said efforts are being made to address shortages of healthcare professionals in rural Alberta, such as increasing the number of residency seats, including adding an additional 30 seats for international medical graduates (IMG).
Additionally, he said the provincial government is working with organizations like the College of Physicians and Surgeons Alberta (CPSA), noting CPSA’s five-year pilot project launched in January to evaluate if IMGs can begin practicing independently in their communities faster.
Doctor Recruitment
In addition, compensation models for health professionals are also being studied, including business models for physicians.
Doctors, “they need to actually make a living,” said Copping. “But what really drives it is they want to provide care and when they can’t provide that care – it makes [Alberta] a difficult place to work.”
When asked by Lakeland This Week if improvement toward physician recruitment has improved, Copping said that Alberta had a net increase of 254 doctors in the previous year’s final quarter, citing CPSA data.
“That means we’re headed in the right direction, but the reality is we still need more,” he said, explaining that family physicians make up 50 per cent of doctors in Alberta. “That’s why I’m excited about Modernizing Alberta's Primary Health Care System (MAPS).”
MAPS
The MAPS advisory panel, launched in September of last year, “did significant consultation particularly in rural areas,” studying how to improve the rural health care system, said Copping.
One of the key themes, he said, was associated with different models of care.
“So, team-based care and leveraging all allied health professionals. So, it’s not just doctors,” he said. “Let’s leverage everybody that we need.”
Copping also said an additional $250 million funding will go toward recruitment and retention programs.
Rural Health Facilities Revitalization Program
Copping also acknowledged other examples of challenges in rural healthcare, such as ambulance bays not being big enough to accept ambulances, a lack of operating rooms, and a lack of spaces.
To address these challenges $105 million will go to Rural Health Facilities Revitalization Program (RHFRP) as part of Budget 2023, said Copping, which includes $75 million additional funding for capital projects in rural Alberta.
RHFRP is a provincial program supporting renovations and development of select rural health facilities. "That’s truly the focus... but it’s also about transforming the system [and] investing in primary care with a particular focus in rural and Indigenous care,” he said.
Other key areas of focus include improving the province’s acute care system, which involves increasing EMS response time, reducing emergency department wait times, increasing surgical volumes, and decreasing surgery wait times, particularly for those waiting outside the recommended wait times, said Copping.
Copping said Budget 2023 also includes injecting $237 million toward the expansion and modernization of operating rooms and reduction of surgery wait times in the province.
