Alberta Official Opposition Leader Christina Gray said Lethbridge families are desperate to find family doctors. Since taking power, Gray said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has failed to recruit family doctors to Lethbridge. “Not a single family doctor in Lethbridge is accepting new patients,” said Gray in a Monday speech during Question Period in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. “And the situation is so bad under this UCP (United Conservative Party) government that family doctors are literally packing up and leaving for places like British Columbia.” She asked Smith why she was chasing family doctors out of Lethbridge when they are essential to keeping people healthy. While Gray was sounding negative, Smith said she had good news to report. “We have an arrangement with the University of Lethbridge to start training 50 family doctors every single year not only in Lethbridge but also in Grande Prairie,” she said. “This was a recommendation from the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).” One of the observations the AMA made was if doctors are trained in southern Alberta, they are likely to stay in it. In future years, she predicted every community in southern Alberta will be able to keep and retain more family doctors. At the moment, she pointed out Lethbridge has 120 family physicians and will see that number continue to grow. However, Gray said doctors need to train new doctors, which has been a challenge. “The government’s website today says the only family doctors in the Lethbridge area are in Milk River and Pincher Creek,” she said. “Mr. Speaker, those two communities are an hour’s drive away from Lethbridge.” Although certain people could make the trip with ease, she called for people to imagine a senior needing to find a ride for a two-hour round trip to access healthcare. She said hospitals such as the Chinook Regional Hospital cannot handle people going to the emergency room to requisition a prescription or get a blood test. In response, she questioned why Smith has chased away doctors from Lethbridge. Smith said Gray should know there was a changing nature of primary care practice. “In the past, doctors would take on a 1,500 patient load,” she said. “So if you just do the math on that, in the past, 120 doctors would have been able 180,000 patients, which is far more than the population of Lethbridge right now.” As doctors get hired and trained and more work in hospitals, she said they are "having smaller and smaller practices, which is the reason why we are expanding the scope of practice of other health professionals." Pharmacies will be able to do more primary care and prescriptions, and nurse practitioners offer another option. If a family is looking for a family doctor, Gray said there are zero available in Lethbridge. “One in five families in Alberta cannot find a family doctor, and we need people getting good healthcare,” she said. Instead, she said family doctors “are closing their clinics, they’re leaving patients stranded, and the current government has turned their back on the people of Lethbridge who need a family doctor.” She noted it is clear Lethbridgians need an Alberta NDP MLA who believes in public healthcare. Instead of telling doctors to pack up, she said Smith should join the NDP in telling people better is possible and sign the contract for them that she promised she would. Smith applauded Alberta UCP MLA Nathan Neudorf (Lethbridge-East), who has been doing double duty representing the two ridings in the city. “We’re investing as you know in expanding the capacity in not only pharmacists but also nurse practitioners, and we’re working very closely with the Alberta Medical Association on a new funding model,” she said. Because of the changing nature of primary care, she said doctors need to do team-based care. She added the new funding model will allow for doctors to lead practices and bring in other healthcare workers to enable them to fill gaps. The Alberta government said in 2023 it was working to offer physician training in Lethbridge and Grande Prairie to help bring more physicians to rural areas. .UCP government working to offer physician training in Lethbridge and Grande Prairie.Rural Albertans are disproportionately affected by the nationwide shortage of healthcare workers, and their community members cannot access physician training close to home.The Alberta government would be spending $1 million to explore ways regional post-secondary institutions such as U of L and Northwestern Polytechnic can help deliver medical education outside of Calgary and Edmonton.
