Alberta announces new funding to attract doctors, paramedics to rural and remote locations

The province says it is launching a rural health action plan to improve health care in rural and remote communities.

Under the plan, the province is introducing a $16 million rural and remote family medicine resident bursary pilot program, which will support family medicine residents who are interested in practising in rural or remote Alberta.

The bursary will provide up to $8 million annually for the next two years.

Bursaries of up to $125,000 for rural applicants or $200,000 for remote applicants will be available to medical students in their final year of an undergraduate medical program at any medical university, who have been matched with a family medicine residency program at the University of Alberta or University of Calgary.

In exchange for the funding, the students will commit to delivering patient care in eligible communities for three years after completing their residency.

Applications for 2024-2025 will open in December.

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An $800,000 grant for medical first responders (MFR) and $600,000 grant for emergency medical responders (EMR) was also announced.

The grants are designed to attract and retain paramedics in rural, remote and First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities across Alberta.

"This will also support the work to address long emergency response times by funding the establishment of new medical first responder programs in communities with limited access to health care services," the province said in a Thursday news release.

In addition to funding new agencies, the grants will support communities with existing MFR agencies, like fire departments and other community-based volunteer groups.

The province says the rural health care action plan will be reviewed and updated every three years.