(File Photo)

By Sheldon Spackman

Recruiting Continues

Ponoka loses potential new doctor over government’s battle with physicians

Oct 15, 2020 | 5:15 PM

A Ponoka medical clinic in desperate need of physicians has lost a potential recruit due to the province’s relationship with its doctors, according to one of the clinic’s doctors.

Dr. Greg Sawisky with the Battle River Medical Clinic says unless something changes they’ll be down four doctors by the end of the year.

“We had one physician retire in December, then we had another physician leave to go back to do some more medical training in June, and then in August we lost a physician because they left to move to Ontario because of the relationship with the provincial government. And unfortunately we’re going to lose another one here at the end of December for personal reasons.”

Sawisky says it’s very concerning since they are the only clinic in Ponoka and serve both town and county residents, as well as Maskwacis.

He says their lost recruit, Dr. Richard Elloway, was from the United States but did his undergraduate degree at Burman University in Lacombe.

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“So he knows the area, he knows the population, and he knows what it’s like to live in Canada. We were very, very hopeful that when he expressed interest in coming to Ponoka, that he would be a good fit.”

“It’s devastating because what are we to do now?” asks Sawisky. “The doctor we lost to move to Ontario, he was born in Alberta, he was raised in Alberta, he went to medical school and residency in Alberta, and now because of Minister Shandro’s incompetence, we’ve basically subsidized a doctor for Ontario.”

On Oct. 7, the government announced 11,000-plus doctors registered to practice in Alberta – representing a net gain of 246 doctors over 2019, or an increase of 2.3 per cent.

Dr. Sawisky describes those numbers as “cherry-picked data.”

“They’re focused on one quarter (July-Sept.) of registrations of which all the resident physicians in Alberta switched over to practicing physicians,” he explains. “So during that quarter, every year, there is always a spike in new registrants. Secondly, that is 11,000 ‘registrants’.”

Sawisky says someone can live in Ontario for example and practice medicine in Ontario, but can be registered in Alberta.

“They can provide tele-medicine service in Alberta, perhaps they were registered in Alberta and they left for Ontario but they’re going to keep their registration for a year open,” he points out. “That number does not represent 11,000 doctors with feet on the ground providing medical care in Alberta. That merely means that there are 11,000 physicians registered to provide care in this province and doesn’t mean there are 11,000 doctors actually providing care.”

Sawisky says there are currently eight permanent family General Practitioners working out of the Battle River Medical Clinic in Ponoka with a couple of specialist positions that provide occasional service. He says they could easily employ 12.

“We doctors understand that the province is deep in the red,” he remarks. “And we understand that the good times financially are over. We doctors, as well as the Alberta Medical Association are asking the government to work with us to reinstate the Master Agreement, repeal Bill 21 which gives the government unilateral control to repeal any further agreements, and let’s work together.”

“This hand-fisted approach and these belligerent actions by the health minister have set us back years, when we could have been much more proactive working together,” he continues. “This first-term, third rate health minister is doing more damage to this health system than Ralph Klein ever did.”