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By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

health minister says strategy paying off

Alberta doctor numbers up, but questions linger

Oct 16, 2024 | 5:03 PM

New numbers show Red Deer jumped from 360 physicians on June 30, to 368 at the end of September.

The data is part of a quarterly report issued this week from the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), which shows Alberta gained 370 physicians in that three-month span.

That gives the province 12,126 physicians, which is also 518 higher compared to Sept. 30 of last year — that according to a statement from Health Minister Adriana LaGrange, who’s also MLA for Red Deer-North.

“These record numbers reflect that there are more doctors registered in Alberta today than at any other time in the province’s history. The province has also seen its most significant third-quarter growth rate since before 2015,” said LaGrange.

“This demonstrates that our efforts to attract and retain physicians are paying off, but we recognize there is more to be done. We are committed to building on this momentum by strengthening primary health care, enhancing physician education and training, and advancing our Health Workforce Strategy to address physician supply challenges.”

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LaGrange also noted a five per cent increase in the number of family physicians, when compared to Q3 2023.

According to the Red Deer Primary Care Network (PCN), the city added five family physicians this past quarter, and now sits at 102. The PCN anticipates eight more will be added by the end of 2024.

Those numbers don’t take into account anyone who may retire or move.

There are also 10 family physicians in Red Deer accepting new patients.

“This is the highest number we’ve had accepting new patients in the last five years,” says Lorna Milkovich, executive director, Red Deer PCN. “This is interesting because we’ve definitely had a shortage of family physicians. Since January 2023, we’ve added 23 family physicians.”

It was in February 2023 when rdnewsNOW reported that not a single one of the then 93 local doctors were accepting new patients.

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READ MORE: Red Deer dealing with severe lack of doctors accepting new patients

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As for the fairly large Central Zone, the CPSA report shows 630 specialists and 239 non-specialists, for a total of 869, as of Sept. 30, 2024; that compares to 595 specialists and 221 non-specialists, for a total of 816, as of Sept. 30, 2023.

Those numbers represent the largest increase, percentage-wise, of all AHS’ five health zones.

Central Zone grew 6.5 per cent in the number of physicians, Calgary Zone grew 5.3 per cent, Edmonton jumped 3.5 per cent, South Zone went up 2.8 per cent, and North Zone saw a slight bump of 1.7 per cent. The Alberta average was a 4.4 per cent rise.

The CPSA also reports that between July 1 and Sept. 30, 25 of 26 new non-specialists added, graduated outside of Canada and the U.S.A.

Of the 339 new specialists added, there were more who graduated outside Canada and the U.S.A than any other location, at 87.

The University of Alberta is represented by 77, the University of Calgary graduated 65, and 46 earned credentials in Ontario. There were also 19 from B.C., 15 from Saskatchewan, 10 from Nova Scotia and nine from Quebec.

President of the Alberta Medical Association is Dr. Shelley Duggan, who tells rdnewsNOW that while Q3 numbers are encouraging, what will be more revealing are year-end figures which show how many doctors retire.

“What we don’t know about these numbers is if there are truly that many working here,” she said, pointing to anesthesiologist numbers, as an example; they show an increase from 456 to 484 across Alberta, year-over-year.

“A lot of anesthesiologists have been working like dogs and some have said they can’t do that anymore. The data concludes there are simply more anesthesiologists who are registered here, but that does not mean they’re working here.”

Dr. Duggan also said growth of physician numbers has not kept pace with population growth.

“We had an announcement last week that two physicians are leaving Lethbridge, and it’s quite possible we see a significant number leave by end of the year, particularly family physicians,” she says.

“We don’t have a timeline for the Physician Comprehensive Care Model (PCCM) either. We submitted to government last year, and that would help stabilize family medicine physicians who want to do comprehensive care.”

She says doctors, “won’t necessarily continue to hold on,” if they don’t have a timeline.

According to CHAT News, Premier Danielle Smith said last week that her government will sign off on a new funding structure for family doctors after it concludes several outstanding union negotiations.

The full CPSA quarterly update can be read at cpsa.ca.

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