Alberta raises some business cost, liability supports to keep community clinics open
Alberta raises some business cost, liability supports to keep community clinics open
Alberta is reinstating several programs and increasing supports family doctors and other medical specialists receive to help cover operating expenses for their office-based practices.
"Too often we hear about doctors having to leave their communities and move to a larger centre just to make ends meet," he added. "Like other Albertans, they are feeling the pinch to pay for wages, supplies, and literally keeping the lights on in their clinics."
The province is topping up the $80 million Business Costs Program by an additional $20 million for the remainder of the agreement period with the AMA.
On average, Copping says physicians and specialists will receive an extra $2,300 to cover office expenses. He added that increased help for community clinics' business costs is "vital" as doctors deal with inflation.
Dr. Fredrykka Rinaldi, AMA president, said that investment would help provide more predictability to physicians.
"We found there were places it was just impossible to believe that physicians could actually keep a community practice open," Rinaldi said. "Unlike other small businesses, physicians can't raise the price of the fee."
Alberta Health increased the annual reimbursable amount for continuing medical training of $2,100 by $100 and reinstated reimbursements for medical liability insurance for some practitioners.
The province will cover $1,000 of the annual deductible for around 5,000 urban physicians. Many rural doctors already have that covered by the province, Copping said.
Now Copping says his focus is on "modernizing" the fee service model for physician compensation and working on addressing other health-care system concerns.
"[When it comes to fee-for-service], is this the right model? And actually, does it do the job that it needs to do," the health minister said, adding he wants to optimize them to ensure it properly supports rural practitioners and represents the "right mix" of compensation.
When asked if the rocky relationship between the AMA and the provincial government has been repaired, Rinaldi said there is still work to be done.
"There are issues of trust amongst some members and for some members, it will take longer for them to accept that we do have a relationship," she said.
"We would not be moving forward anymore successfully having a grudge game and doing nothing and that would not facilitate patient care. So I think we've chosen the right road."
"I fully appreciate that, you know, there's some doctors [who] may not be happy with our government, and I understand that," Copping said. "But we are working together because we know that there's a commonality of interest, that we both have the same interest of serving the Alberta patient and Albertans."
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Canada and the United States are negotiating a deal that could see asylum seekers turned back at irregular border crossings across the border, including Roxham Road in Quebec.
As the federal government looks to renegotiate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., an eastern Ontario mayor says his city needs more help from Ottawa to deal with the influx of asylum seekers arriving through irregular crossings like Roxham Road.
Amid renewed questions over the pervasiveness of alleged interference by China in Canadian elections and affairs broadly, opposition MPs voted Thursday afternoon to affirm a parliamentary committee's call for the federal government to strike a public inquiry.
A majority of Canadians have seen a mistake on their grocery receipts in the last year, according to a new survey conducted by Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
An asteroid discovered just last week will pass closer to the Earth than the orbit of the moon this weekend, an occurrence so rare it happens only once in a decade, according to NASA.
The number of Canadians receiving employment insurance benefits are at record lows and down 44 per cent from last year, new figures from Statistics Canada show.
Two Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) sisters from Montreal are on a mission that is close to their hearts: to save their ancestors' first language by developing video games young and old can play.
The Alberta Energy Regulator has cited an energy company for causing a series of earthquakes, including the largest recorded tremblor in the province's history.
An alleged victim of a former staff member of Legacy Christian Academy can now be identified after she successfully petitioned in court to have a publication ban lifted.
In the weeks leading up to Wednesday’s provincial budget, school divisions in Saskatchewan were expecting funding levels to increase, with the province repeatedly touting its $1 billion surplus.
A recent report from the province’s privacy commissioner says the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (MACSI) failed to take appropriate steps after patient treatment files were discovered in a recycling bin.
The Tim Houston PC government remains firm in their promise they'll fix the health-care system by spending more taxpayer money on health than any previous government before.
Potato farmers on Prince Edward Island are taking the federal government to court due to the decision to restrict the movement of P.E.I. seed potatoes.
An Ontario man said he was shocked when his truck was stolen not once but twice, and the second time it was taken he was surprised to discover he was no longer covered for theft.
For the first time, the owner of a building in Old Montreal has responded to questions about the fire — through his lawyer — addressing allegations that the building was unsafe.
The political class at the National Assembly has condemned the 'violent' and 'hateful' remarks that columnist Gilles Proulx allegedly made about Quebec solidaire MNAs during Richard Martineau's show on Qub radio in recent weeks.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrived Thursday evening in Ottawa for a whirlwind 27-hour visit expected to focus on both the friendly and thorny aspects of the Canada-U.S. relationship, including protectionism and migration on both sides of the border.
Emergency crews responded to a call for a stabbing on Hartsmere Drive, off Stittsville Main Street, at approximately 7:45 p.m. Thursday. Two police cruisers guarded the parking lot of the Trustee M. Curry Park late Thursday evening.
The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est has announced plans for a four-day school week pilot-project this fall, becoming the first school board in Ontario to offer families a shortened school week schedule.
The ‘Catch the Ace’ jackpot is still up for grabs in Hagersville. There was no winner Thursday night so the total prize money is now an estimated $1,526,067.
The resurrection of Zellers is officially underway with the Cambridge location opening its doors to eager shoppers who lined up ahead of the store's official reopening.
The co-owners of a new liquidation store in North Bay, Samuel Quesnel and Chloé Boivenue, say they want to bring a treasure hunt shopping experience to the city.
Manitoba First Nation police have arrested a man connected with a shooting on March 19 on Long Plain First Nation that resulted in the community going on lockdown.
Manitoba’s labour force is growing at a rate to supply enough workers for available positions into 2026, according to the province’s labour market outlook.
Following a court appearance Thursday, a B.C. woman facing more than 20 charges – including manslaughter – in connection with alleged druggings of men who used escort services was remanded into custody.
The man killed in West Vancouver earlier this week was a retired urologist who was involved in several legal disputes over valuable real estate, CTV News has learned.
A Victoria man’s life of crime has turned into one of survival, hope and advocacy amid ongoing conversations in the community about how best to tackle public safety matters.
