By Curtis Galbraith

Healthcare

Provincial government putting more money into the primary health care system

Feb 21, 2023 | 3:33 PM

The provincial government says it is putting $243 million over three years into the primary health care system.

In a release, the government says that includes $125 million to work on recommendations from the Modernizing Alberta’s Primary Health Care System (MAPS), $40 million in support for Primary Care Networks under an agreement with the Alberta Medical Association, another $27 million to PCNs to help cover an expected increase in patients, and $12 million going into IT systems to improve the continuity of care around Alberta.

The province says that money for MAPS will cover work on recommendations from a Strategic Advisory Panel and an Indigenous Panel, ones that the province says will address what it calls “long-standing challenges” by Albertans trying to get primary care.

Health Minister Jason Copping says these panels should be finished their reports this spring.

“Continued investment in primary health care is critical to ensure that family doctors, clinics, teams, Primary Care Networks and other partners have the tools they need to provide timely access to quality care for all Albertans. Central to this is building on the trusted relationship family physicians and health teams have with their patients on their health journey,” says Copping in that same release.

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The province says that focusing on primary care will mean not as many people depending on emergency care and better health outcomes for people around Alberta.

“Jason Copping’s comments on primary care were just like his UCP government’s response to the crisis in our ambulance system,” said David Shepherd, Alberta NDP Health Critic. “It’s just another plan to make a plan.

“The promised budget number barely catches up with the cuts the UCP have inflicted on the entire health-care system over the past three-and-half years. And, over that time, the UCP has caused historic damage to primary care.

“It’s yet another retread of the tired Conservative playbook of cutting funding and tearing health care down for years and then pretending to fix the damage with a pre-election budget.”