In 2024, Premier Danielle Smith plans to scrutinize the province's health care system while also making efforts to attract and retain family doctors.
Without a comprehensive restructuring, we will not be able to solve the problems on the front lines [de Services de santé Alberta]
She says.
Our nurses are burned out after two years and are leaving our system [de santé]. Our paramedics work for an average of five years. Doctors have reduced theirs [consultations] and not enough go to primary care
she continues, adding It's a management problem. [Des] Decisions not made, postponed, or made poorly, affecting morale.
In the spring 2024 legislative session, the United Conservative Party government plans to introduce bills to dismantle Alberta Health Services and replace it with four agencies. Some fear that this new model will jeopardize care in four different areas: primary care, short-term care, continuing care and mental health care, including addictions.
Meanwhile, Danielle Smith said efforts to find more family doctors and prevent those who practice from going out of business continue.
Like other provinces, Alberta is experiencing a significant shortage of primary care physicians, which is having a catastrophic impact on the entire health care system as more and more patients without a primary care physician end up in emergency rooms, overwhelming them.
Before Christmas, the Prime Minister announced a public investment of $200 million over two years to help GPs continue to practice.
Additionally, the province is working with the Alberta Medical Association to develop a new reimbursement model that takes into account patient growth, inflation, operational costs and comprehensive care.
With information from Dean Bennett of The Canadian Press
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