The NDP announced a plan Wednesday to connect one million Albertans with a family doctor – part of the party’s “commitment to rebuild and strengthen family health-care in Alberta.”
The plan is “a critical step in ending the chaos in hospitals and ambulances caused by the UCP,” the Opposition party wrote in a news release.
Family Health Teams, as the plan is called, will help people see their family doctor within a day or two when they need medical attention, therefore freeing up space and long lines in the ER and hospitals.
People will have access to nurse practitioners, doctors, nurses, mental health therapists, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, community paramedics, physiotherapists, midwives, speech pathologists and more, the NDP said.
“If patients have access to accurate information, timely screening and regular check-ins with a provider who knows them, then we have a better chance of keeping people healthy and addressing issues early,” said Dr. Alana Luft.
“If we are able to optimize wellness and reduce incidence of severe disease in the primary care setting, there will be far less stress on hospitals and ERs where the costs to the individuals and the system are much higher.”
The plan calls for a transition fund to hire 1,500 non-physician employees immediately into existing clinics, as well as the opening of 10 Family Health Clinics across the province.
UCP party leader and Premier Danielle Smith has said that health-care is one of her top two priorities, and went so far as to say the province would move forward with health-care reform without the federal government funding. However, the premiers accepted the federal government’s funding proposal Tuesday.
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In a statement to Global News, Scott Johnston, press secretary for the health minister, said the province is “spending a record health budget to add staff and physicians and build capacity across the system,” and “have record numbers of doctors, nurses and other frontline staff working in our health system.”
Johnston said the province is actively recruiting new health-care staff, mentioning Alberta’s recently announced recruitment plan for internationally trained physicians, as well as adding additional ambulances to the EMS fleet.
New funding plans will be negotiated and put into place at the end of the month during the 2023 provincial budget hearings.