It's boom time in the oil patch, which has traditionally meant a run on gold faucets and bidding wars for houses. This time around, the economic explosion prompted by rising world oil prices has led to a population boom — 25 900 more people in the first quarter of 2006 alone — and a resulting immediate shortage of 1000 physicians who, in turn, face escalating overhead costs.
The shortage of physicians has become so acute that regional health authorities have been forced to close hospital units, including a shutdown of the intensive care unit at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie in early August due to a shortage of internists, as well as a 24-hour closure of the surgery room in the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert, because of a shortage of anesthetists.
Compounding the boom time issues is the provincial government's seeming state of impasse as it races to replace Premier Ralph Klein as Conservative Party leader. Funding has expired for programs to improve physician efficiency, like the creation of primary care networks, and for computerized medical records in doctors' offices.
In addition, physicians have been without a contract since Mar. 31. Alberta Medical Association President Dr. Tzu-Kuang Lee says the failure to negotiate a new 2-year agreement will only make it more difficult to attract the requisite physicians to meet demand or, in turn, for them to recruit and retain staff in the red-hot labour market.
A tripartite committee, comprised of AMA, government and regional health authority representatives, has projected the province needs 1000 new doctors, and Lee surmises that will rise to 1500 within 5 years.
The AMA wants the province to adopt a provincial recruitment strategy, provide financial assistance to help cover high overhead costs and establish a differential fee schedule for physicians practising in areas where the cost of living is soaring, like Calgary and Fort McMurray.
Lee says the AMA also wants the province to renew funding for continuing operations in the 14 existing and 15 planned primary care networks ($70 million in the 2006–07 budget), as well as for the Physician Office System Program (POSP), a $65.6–million initiative that covered up to 70% of costs associated with a physician's move to electronic patient records.
The take-up rate among Alberta doctors was about 60%–70%, Lee says. But if POSP isn't renewed, “a lot of people will just have to go back to paper files again,” which will reduce physician efficiency and productivity. “Without more funding, there's a risk of [POSP] going down the tubes.”
Given the shortage of physicians and the high workloads doctors now shoulder as a result of the boom, “burn out” rates will soar, Lee adds. “If you don't have a medical services infrastructure to take care of the number of people coming into a boom province, there are going to be strains and stresses on the system and then something, of course, has to give.”