Alberta town loses half its family doctors, declares health-care crisis
A west-central Alberta community has declared a local health-care crisis to try to bolster its sagging numbers of family doctors.
Hinton Mayor Nicholas Nissen told CTV News Edmonton on Friday the town of 10,000 has lost about half of its primary care physicians over the last year to retirement, leaving "half of the town" without one.
Six family doctors now work in Hinton, not all of them full-time. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nissen said 15 doctors worked full-time in the town 270 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Nissen said town council found out at the end of April that Hinton was "in danger of losing (its) health-care clinic" because of the lack of physicians, who unlike many of their counterparts in urban centres, work in the local hospital and in other settings besides their primary care clinic.
"We've hit the demographic cliff," Nissen said.
"We've gotten a little bit lopsided in our physician numbers, and it's caused a situation where we're losing access to primary care. When you lose access to primary care in this country, you're losing a lot of access to the health-care system because your family doctor is your gateway in."
A charitable organization is poised to temporarily take over administration of the primary care clinic in the town.
According to the minutes from Hinton council's meeting on Tuesday, the Hinton Healthcare Foundation has asked for $500,000 annually for the next two years "to assist in stabilizing primary healthcare as well as attracting and retaining primary healthcare providers in the community" after the town this week formally declared a state of emergency.
"We're sounding the alarm we are saying, 'We need help. This is no longer business as usual,'" Nissen said.
"We are in a health-care crisis. Over half our community has lost access to care in the past year. That is, to me, the definition of a crisis."
The declaration does not grant Hinton town council any additional powers. Instead, Nissen is hoping it will get attention and support from the province.
In a statement, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said she is working to address rural health issues.
"This includes more rural medical training opportunities, an updated physician compensation model to encourage the best and brightest to practice in Alberta and expanded scope for nurse practitioners to be able to provide primary care with government compensation," LaGrange said in the statement.
The minister says she has recruited one doctor to the town and is working to recruit five more.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Israel launches strikes on military targets in Iran, escalating Mideast wars
Israel launched airstrikes early Saturday on what it described as military targets in Iran in retaliation for a ballistic missile assault Oct. 1, officials said. There was no immediate information on damage in the Islamic Republic.
DEVELOPING Scotiabank confirms outage for mobile, online banking
Scotiabank has confirmed outages affecting mobile and online banking services, according to a statement published to its X account.
'I did everything I could': Canada Post driver recounts helping save woman from fiery Tesla crash
Canada Post driver Rick Harper recounts how he and others helped save a woman from a Tesla that caught fire after crashing into a guardrail on Lake Shore Boulevard.
An abrupt goodbye to a guerilla goldfish aquarium beneath a leaky Brooklyn fire hydrant
A makeshift aquarium that popped up this summer in a puddle beneath a leaky fire hydrant in New York City has been paved over, to the dismay of neighbours who turned the area into a hangout spot and goldfish shrine.
Climate change breaks heat records across Canada this summer
Human-caused climate change made almost all of Canada’s heat waves hotter and more likely, Environment and Climate Change Canada said in an announcement Friday.
Mother who beat and starved her 5-year-old son to death sentenced to over 50 years in prison
A New Hampshire woman was sentenced Friday to 53 years to life in prison in the death of her 5-year-old son, who was beaten, starved and exposed to drugs before his 19-pound body was found buried in a Massachusetts park in 2021.
'Get away from your inner circle': Liberal MP 'shocked' PM didn't take more time to reflect on calls to resign
Longtime Liberal MP Wayne Long says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should give more weight to the views of his backbenchers in determining his future leading the Party, rather than relying on those in his immediate orbit.
Mom and child jumped from a window to escape a Las Vegas fire that killed 2 children and 2 adults
Two adults and two children were found dead in the charred rubble of a house fire after a mother and another child jumped from a third-floor window to escape flames in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood, authorities said.
Russian actors made fake video depicting mail-in ballots for Trump being destroyed, FBI says
Russian actors made a widely circulated video falsely depicting mail-in ballots for Donald Trump being destroyed in Pennsylvania, U.S. officials said Friday.