|
Doctor rejections angers region
Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
Alberta Health Services’ rejection of Dr. Cheddie and Dr. Singh to work within the M.D. of Smoky River and the M.D. of Big Lakes is not sitting well with elected officials.
Mayor Rick Dumont wrote a letter to Dr. Stephen Duckett, the president of AHS in Edmonton, expressing disappointment with the decision.
“In conjunction with the three other local communities, McLennan, Falher and Slave Lake, we lobbied hard and invested considerable time and effort to persuade these two very qualified physicians to locate to our area. They were excited at the opportunity and would have major improvement and contribution to our rural health services,” says Dumont in his July 31 letter.
He also says the communities are on the verge of major economic growth and their citizens are entitled to the same good quality health care as the larger urban areas.
“It is difficult at the best of times to convince professionals and their families that smaller communities can provide all the amenities and a very good quality of life. It is therefore very discouraging when we find two qualified professionals who wanted to come to High Prairie, only to lose them because of what we can assume to be bureaucratic red tape or senior government political interference.”
But according to David Megran, the senior physician executive for Alberta Health Services in Calgary, they could not be approved for several reasons.
“There were concerns with respect to the sustainability of the proposed plan to have this couple provide services in multiple communities,” says Megran in a letter July 16.
“As you are aware, there is only a part-time surgeon (a GP-surgeon) in the area and very little in the way of GP-anesthesia or anesthesia support. Safely and consistently providing ongoing surgical and anesthesia support, particularly after hours and emergencies, would be difficult.”
In effect, there would be no appropriate backup for these surgeons in case of an emergency or in situations where they are unable to perform surgery, such as when they go on vacation, says Don Stewart, a spokesperson for AHS in Calgary. Other surgeons have to be available to fill in for them.
Second, despite the population of the combined communities, it was not clear there would actually be sufficient “fee-for-service” income to support both individuals in the sole practice of surgery and anesthesia respectively.
Third, there is a need for overall service delivery planning throughout the newly created North Zone.
“As you are aware, the organizational structure and operational model for Alberta Health Services has only recently been implemented and while such coordinated and integrated planning is a high priority, it is not yet complete.”
Fourth, enhancing, re-introducing inactive and/or implementing new surgical services in three communities would require significant reallocation of scarce financial and human resources, as well as infrastructure upgrades.
“While I can certainly understand the disappointment amongst the communities and their leaders, we believe that the decision was, and remains, appropriate given the current circumstances within our health system,” says Megran.
“Furthermore, while I recognize that physician recruitment is often a long process and that considerable effort had been expended prior to the decision not to proceed. I do wish to stress, however, that Alberta Health Services recognizes the advantage and need to partner with communities and their leaders in order to ensure successful physician recruitment and retention. While difficult, this decision should not be interpreted as any diminution in our commitment to recruiting the right number and mix of physicians for all of Alberta.”
Megran also says AHS has approved the requirement of over 250 physicians to the province in the last three months, including almost 40 physician recruits for the new North Zone. Of these, one-third have been related to the communities of the Peace Health region.
Megran wrote the letter to Myma Lanctot, the chairperson of the Smoky River Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee. It appeared in the M.D. of Big Lakes council agenda package for their Aug. 12 meeting.
However, Dumont does not like the explanation offered, especially given the amount of money and time spent by the groups involved in the recruitment process.
“It’s a very disturbing letter from … David Megran,” says Dumont.
“We’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to attract doctors here. We’ve got a committee formed to take these doctors around and tried to convince them High Prairie is the place to come to. We’ve had three doctors that I know of, to date, that wanted to come to High Prairie and they’ve been turned down by Alberta Health Services.”
The Town of High Prairie has also purchased a house for physicians to live in when they arrive. The house is behind the hospital, across from the parking lot.
He concludes the AHS is skewing the financial issue to suit themselves.
“They can twist their numbers around and say these doctors are not going to make enough money, but they could make those numbers favour whatever they want it to favour. They can skew the numbers to have those doctors to eventually end up in Grande Prairie.”
Dumont intends to start a letter writing campaign directed at Premier Ed Stelmach. It’s not just the Town of High Prairie and the M.D. of Big Lakes doing all the lobbying, but others such as the First Nations and Métis settlements.
“Everyone benefits from the doctors in the area, not just the people in High Prairie,” says Dumont. “The bottom line is, we all have to get together. We’ve got to lobby them as a group and be on the same page. We have to lobby as high as we can in the Alberta government, to let these doctors come where they want to be.”
Alvin Billings, the reeve for the M.D. of Big Lakes, is also disappointed with AHS’s decision.
“The rationale of the health board, we certainly question that,” says Billings. “Both (physicians) communicated this (area) was their preferred choice.”
He, too, questions the financial issue and says there’s plenty of work for the surgeons between McLennan and High Prairie.
The M.D. has sent letters to the government expressing disappointment with the decision. But the M.D. will continue to lobby with the Town of High Prairie for medical staff.
Home
Next >
|
