By Troy Gillard

BATTLE CONTINUES

Drayton Valley doctor says he’s leaving Alberta over dispute with province

Aug 12, 2020 | 11:40 AM

A family physician in Drayton Valley says he’s leaving the province due to the ongoing dispute between the provincial government and Alberta doctors.

Dr. Cody Thomson of Claro Family Practice announced in a letter shared this week that he’ll be moving to Salmon, Arm B.C. in December.

The life-long Drayton Valley resident cited new outdoor opportunities for his family as one of his two main reasons for leaving, but also “the current state of affairs in Alberta between its physicians and the United Conservative Party under Premier Jason Kenney and Tyler Shandro (Minister of Health).”

“Most of you know should be aware but for those who are not, Mr. Kenney and Mr. Shandro have together created a very unstable and unhealthy healthcare system in Alberta,” Thomson wrote. “This is not about physician pay or compensation, as they would have you believe. What Mr. Kenney and Mr. Shandro have done is create a continual stream of fear and uncertainty for us working in healthcare.”

Thomson listed several examples, including Shandro tearing up the province’s contract with doctors, cancellation of good faith billing that supported doctors in caring for vulnerable Albertans, the chaotic back-and-forth over billing codes, the chaotic back-and-forth over rural services, and plans to replace doctors’ professional regulator with a politicized one.

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“They have created changes in the healthcare system that will allow for progressive privatization and I fear this will lead to American style health care delivery, whereby only those with money and privilege will receive timely or quality care,” Thomson said.

Dr. Trevor Byers has also informed his patients that he is leaving family medicine after 20 years of practice in Leduc to focus on specialized work in geriatrics, a choice he calls “truly frustrating.”

“I had not anticipated leaving family medicine at this point in my career, but due to government changes to primary care over the past number of months, I feel a change is necessary for my own survival in medicine,” Byers wrote.

“Alberta families are losing their doctor in the midst of a deadly pandemic because of Jason Kenney and Tyler Shandro’s ongoing campaign of smear and harassment against them,” said NDP Health Critic David Shepherd.

The NDP is renewing its calls for Shandro to be dismissed as Health Minister, and for the government to return to the negotiating table with the Alberta Medical Association to develop a new binding contract.