Red Deer residents struggling to find health care amid family doctor shortage
As the Alberta UCP and NDP pledge to improve access to health care in the province, Red Deer residents are struggling to find a family doctor.
On Friday, the Alberta Primary Care Network website showed no family doctors in the city accepting new patients.
According to the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons Database, four general practitioners in Red Deer are taking new patients without referrals. However, when called by CTV News Edmonton, all four said they were not.
Dr. Peter Bouch is a family physician in Red Deer. He has around 3,000 patients and said he can't handle any more.
"There's a lot of stress going around. There's a lot of workplace fatigue," he said. "I think it's going to get worse before it gets better.
"We don't really have a good lead on trying to find more physicians."
A spokesperson for the Alberta minister of health said last year that more than 250 doctors were added to Alberta's workforce, with 34 going to the central zone.
In the last three months of 2022, 14 doctors went to Red Deer, the spokesperson said.
"It doesn't mean that those doctors are necessarily working in family medicine and accepting new patients," said NDP health critic David Shepherd. "So, the reality is what Albertans are seeing on the ground and it shows where this government has failed."
One of the problems, Bouch said, is keeping doctors in the city once they've come in.
"Physicians come here to do their residency but are predominantly wanting to go to rural areas afterwards," he added.
With the lack of options for primary care, many residents have had to turn to walk-in clinics. Even that has proven difficult for some.
Lynn Van Laar is fighting a lung infection and said she was turned away by five walk-in clinics before she was able to get in to see a doctor.
"I'm going to persevere," she said. "But the average person might say, 'No, I'm just going to wait in [emergency] because then for sure I know somebody is going to see me.’"
In a Friday press release, the NDP said Lethbridge residents are also seeing shortages, with one in three unable to access a primary care physician.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.