Alberta town loses half its family doctors, declares health-care crisis
![Blood pressure A patient has their blood pressure taken at a medical clinic. (CTV News Edmonton)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2024/6/21/blood-pressure-1-6936881-1719013946364.png)
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
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6952473.1720161807!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Japan’s tourism tax sparks industry speculation in Canada
Japan has introduced a tourism tax for Mount Fuji, which has prompted some in Canada to wonder if our own tourist destinations like Niagara Falls and the Bay of Fundy could be potential options for our own tourism tax.
Terrorism charges laid against B.C. woman who married ISIS fighter
A B.C. woman who was repatriated from a Syrian prison camp in 2022 has been arrested and charged with terrorism offences, police announced Saturday.
4 in 10 Canadians say theft is a risk a factor in vehicle purchasing: Nanos
As many as four out of 10 Canadians say it is 'important' to know if a vehicle they're interested in purchasing is more likely to be targeted by thieves, according to a new Nanos Research survey.
This Italian vacation hotspot is turning tourists away as it runs out of water
Set atop a hill on the Italian island of Sicily, Agrigento is a heritage tourist’s paradise. But the aqueduct, and others built in modern times, are running so dry that small hotels and guesthouses in the city and nearby coast are being forced to turn tourists away.
Trudeau to tell allies to stay resolute as Ukraine to at centre of NATO summit
Canada will be reassuring allies of its commitment to the western alliance as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travels to Washington, D.C., this week to take part in the NATO leaders' summit at a critical time for war-ravaged Ukraine.
Torrid heat bakes millions of people in large swaths of U.S., setting records and fanning wildfires
Roughly 130 million people were under threat over the weekend and into next week from a long-running heat wave that broke or tied records with dangerously high temperatures and is expected to shatter more from East Coast to West Coast, forecasters said.
Jon Landau, Oscar-winning 'Titanic' and 'Avatar' producer, dies at 63
Jon Landau, an Oscar-winning producer who worked closely with director James Cameron on three of the biggest blockbusters of all time, 'Titanic' and two 'Avatar' films, has died. He was 63.
How to lower your student debt -- and cut through misconceptions around it
Paying back student loans has always been a challenge, but at a time when housing and meals eat up a bigger slice of income than ever, making smart choices around loans and repayment is all too critical.
Vehicle supply building. Prices are going down. Is it time to buy a new car?
For the first time in years, car shoppers are having an easier time finding a deal as the auto industry bounces back from supply chain woes — and experts say the outlook could get even better.