BOW VALLEY – With growing concerns in the Bow Valley over the shortage of physicians, despite the population of the area rising, NDP leader Rachel Notley promised the NDP would deal with the shortage if elected.
“We have to end the fight between doctors and their government,” said Notley during a visit to Banff on Wednesday. “We have to have a government that is willing to re-engage with local partners.”
Last month, the Bow Valley Primary Care Network notified the public that there was a severe doctor shortage, and no doctors were accepting new patients. The situation is something the area had not experienced in two decades.
“That means more families that don’t have access to the care they need,” Notley said.
The main issue for recruiting doctors to the area was cited as the shortage and cost of housing in the Bow Valley. Notley agreed that is an issue but cited other challenges that had to be overcome.
“What is harder to overcome is a government that is not supportive of doctors, fighting with doctors and fighting with each other,” she said. “We can do better, and we must do better. Alberta’s NDP believes every Albertan should have access to a family doctor in their community.”
Dr. Brendan Flowers, a Canmore physician, also spoke about the shortage, adding that in the past three years 10 doctors have left or retired. This has put extra strain on the doctors in the area.
“There are no physicians accepting family patients at the moment and sadly I am one of them,” Dr. Flowers said. “Physicians want to be partners on this, but we need some help. We need the uncertainty gone and a proper contract put in place. As physicians, there is a sense of mistrust and frustration with the UCP government.”
Dr. Flowers added that he has already seen one of his colleagues close her practice in the area because of the UCP terminating its master agreement with doctors.
“Without clarity and trust, physicians will continue to leave,” Dr. Flowers said. “You wouldn’t think it would be hard to recruit physicians here, but it is. Banff and Canmore are not the only places with these shortages. I know that Cochrane is incredibly short as well.”
A growing shortage of ambulances in communities outside of major cities has also become a growing problem amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The EMS in the province of Alberta is in crisis,” said paramedic Kristin Buck. “Many communities are struggling with ambulance availability. We know this is the case in Canmore where we have not met response benchmarks for 911 calls for the last five years.”
In 2021, there were 133 patients in Canmore who saw a delayed response. Canmore has also gone from having to shut down an ambulance three times in 2019 to 32 times in 2021.
“A couple of weeks ago, a patient with a serious heart condition had to wait 33 minutes for an ambulance,” Buck said. “I believe this to be a threat to public safety requiring collaboration and action.”
Buck stated that a solution to the issue was ending the core flex staffing model. This model schedules EMS practitioners to provide emergency health services for an extended period, which is typically 96 hours or more in duration. The Alberta Paramedic Association has cited this model is causing increased fatigue and sleep inertia among paramedics, who must sleep on shift and then make critical decisions within minutes of awakening.
Buck also cited having the Canmore CT scanner available 24/7 to reduce the transfer of volume and having an appropriate transfer of service as other solutions. Currently, the Bow Valley has over 1,000 patients that need transfer to a metro hospital every year.
“By not addressing the issues in metro centres, the surrounding communities will struggle,” she said. “Our communities should not have to wait an extra 15 minutes during an emergency for a crew to respond from home.”
