Physicians and patients sat down to talk about the state of Alberta’s health care Saturday.

The meeting took several hours at the Hotel MacDonald where about 100 people turned out, 40 of those were patients.  

Alberta Medical Association (AMA) president Dr. Michael Giuffree said the biggest concern was access to services.

He also said that more money was not the answer.

“We need to not spend more money on health care but better money on health care.”

However, not everyone agreed.

"I think the only thing that's going to solve these problems is more cash for education and health care,” resident Joy Pfannmuller told CTV News.

"I think we have to learn to be patient about things and sometimes you can't be patient because it's life and death,” she added.

Robyn Couture attended the workshop and said she advised medical professionals there was a need for quicker access to mental health services.

Couture said that many family doctors were expected to diagnose patients and refer them on to other services.

“But that doesn’t happen so quickly because there just isn’t enough support for those family physicians to be able to do that,” she explained.

Giuffre assured that the AMA was planning similar sessions in the near future.

“We are building on this. We have four more primary care forums and summits that are available.”

He explained that there were five sessions in total planned, the next one coming to Calgary in March.

“We really need to get primary care right before we can make any significant improvements in health care in Alberta.”

With files from Jeff Harrington