Alberta promises $158M in budget to recruit front-line health staff

Alberta’s health minister says there will be $158 million in the upcoming budget to attract more physicians and other health-care professionals to fill gaps in care.

Jason Copping said Thursday that the workforce is stretched and demands will only increase as the population ages.

The budget is to be delivered Feb. 28, and Copping says half the $158 million will be used for programs to recruit physicians to rural areas, which are feeling the brunt of the doctor shortage.

There will also be funds to help underserviced and remote communities, and money to bring in internationally trained nurses from the United States and United Kingdom.

Copping said details and targets on the incentive programs are to be rolled out after the budget.

“We don’t have an exact (target) number and that’s part of why this strategy is so important,” Copping said at a news conference.

“(We need) to work with everyone to make sure we have the numbers not only today — and we know we need more — but in the future, and we can plan accordingly.”

Copping said the numbers go beyond doctors and nurses.

“It’s not just about (Alberta Health Services), it’s about other employers in the continuing care space. They are having challenges — and we’ve heard this in rural areas as well — be able to attract and retain workers.”

With a provincial election in May, both the governing United Conservative Party and the Opposition NDP are proposing plans to recruit more physicians and other health specialists.

The NDP is promising to create health teams involving specialists, such as physiotherapists and licensed practical nurses working with physicians, thereby allowing the doctors to take on more patients.

Opposition NDP health critic David Shepherd said Copping is trying to clean up a mess that the UCP government made by tearing up the master agreement with doctors three years ago and seeking to cut nurses' wages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It’s no wonder that health-care professionals have fled Alberta,” said Shepherd in a statement.

“The results of the UCP chaos are clear — dozens of rural hospitals partially closed, urban emergency rooms overwhelmed, ambulances delayed longer and longer, and a vast number of Albertans without any access to a family doctor.”

An estimated 15 per cent of Albertans do not have a primary health provider, says the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023.