By Adam Ophus

uncertainty remains

Province’s reversal may not be enough to bring Rocky doctors back to hospital

May 1, 2020 | 2:17 PM

On April 20, physicians at the Rocky Medical Clinic gave a 90 days’ notice to Alberta Health Services that they will be resigning their AHS privileges at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre.

This was in response to changes the government made on the way doctors in Alberta could bill for service.

Rocky was one of many rural clinics across the province that had announced their physicians would be taking similar steps.

On April 24, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the province would cancel some of the changes that took effect on April 1.

But a statement on the Rocky Medical Clinic Facebook page says the move “failed to address our most pressing need – repealing Bill 21.”

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Dr. Joanna Mundell from Rocky Medical Clinic says that although it was a step in the right direction, “Bill 21 needs to change, as it stands, they can change anything they want in our contract, it’s such a huge degree of uncertainty.”

Minister Shandro mentioned April 20 that the province had been in discussion with the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) but it was the AMA that turned down their proposals and initiatives.

Dr. Mundell claimed that the AMA was willing to talk.

“The AMA had proposed an overall cut in salaries,” she shared. “We’re aware of the times, everyone is taking pay cuts right now, and we could too.”

As of right now, Dr. Mundell says two things need to change before it will be enough – Bill 21 needs to be modified so that the province can’t make changes so easily, and they need to strike a new agreement with the AMA.

“We want to be here and we don’t want our patients to suffer,” Dr. Mundell explained.

The Rocky Medical Clinic stated that with the province’s new announcement it would be financially viable to continue a full spectrum rural practice, but they don’t want to move forward without the AMA included. They feel it’s an effort to divide them and pit them urban versus rural, and division against division, and that the AMA will help to unify doctors in the province.

They stated it took months for the doctors to make the decision to leave the hospital, and that it could take months to decide whether to go back.