Health care is on the agenda for the Federation Council meeting Monday through Wednesday in the capital, Manitoba.

The state of health care in Alberta is appalling. It’s collapsing says dr Fredrykka Rinaldi, President of the Alberta Medical Association.

Community general medicine is at the end of its strength. The offices close. She [les médecins de famille] move to other provinces. They turn to various types of specialized practices.

Given that approximately 650,000 Albertans do not have a family doctor, Dr. Fredrykka Rinaldi that healthcare will be a priority for the Premiers.

We need to think about how we can approach health care more universally across the country […] This is an opportunity for provinces to come together and work on how to improve healthcare without reinventing the wheel 11 or 12 times. says dr Fredrykka Rinaldi.

Adjust and coordinate better

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is asking governments to commit to important goals, including ensuring 95% of Canadians have a family doctor within ten years and preventing the closure of emergency services within three years.

In a recent report (New window)I’CMA also provides guidance on increasing the number of GPs, reducing waiting times for surgical procedures and improving access to psychiatric services.

What we really want is a commitment from First Ministers to set action plans, set targets and be held accountable so we can continue to fix the health system because we are having an implementation crisis right now argues dr. Katharine Smart, former President of theCMA.

We’ve seen tentative agreements with the federal government and billions of dollars on the table for healthcare. What we haven’t seen yet, however, are action plans and commitments about where that investment will go.

The current President ofCMAdr Alika Lafontaine, will be in Winnipeg to meet with the Premiers.The status quo is no longer an option. Our healthcare systems will not change unless we change the way we try to solve our many problems.he said in a press release.

If we can agree on what needs to be done differently, governments and healthcare system managers can clearly identify the key steps needed to make real improvements.

In addition, reported Dr. Fredrykka Rinaldi said the Board of Directors of the Alberta Medical Association recently met with Alberta’s new Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange, and raised concerns about the state of health care, including the shortage of GPs, and reiterated calls for a workforce strategy.

We need to move much faster than it currently seems.says dr Fredrykka Rinaldi.

With files by Jennifer Lee