Health Minister Jason Copping said an aging population is increasing demand and the province’s hospitals need more physicians and health care professionals. More than half of the amount budgeted, $90 million, will be directed to the recruitment of doctors for rural areas, which are especially under-serviced.
The government intends to offer financial incentives to physicians who will open practices in rural communities, and spend $7 million for targeted recruitment of internationally trained nurses from the United Kingdom and the United States.
The province will spend $1 million to fund the provincial Nurse Navigator program, directed at nurses immigrating to Alberta.
Copping said the province has hired 700 physicians since 2019, and nearly 600 staff at AHS as well as 1,800 registered nurses and 300 paramedics.
“In 2022 alone, we added 254 physicians and 800 nursing staff,” said the minister.
“Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we have laid the foundation for a strong and sustainable health system that provides every Albertan with access to a health home,” he said.
“I want to be clear that this list of programs and this funding isn’t exhaustive. More initiatives will be announced in the coming weeks and once we release the budget,” Copping added.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information estimates 15 percent of the province’s residents do not have a primary health care provider. While the province’s physician rate is 250 doctors per 100,000 people, higher than the national average of 246, the doctors are not equally distributed across all areas of the province, said Copping.
The province said its five-pillar health workforce strategy includes retaining and supporting health care workers, and attracting new medical professionals. The government also plans to create more spaces for medical training and skill development, and expand scopes of practice.
“Other actions include dedicated immigration pathways, creating more post secondary positions for health professions, new approaches to rural and remote care delivery and surgical staffing, additional support for intensive care unit and emergency department staffing, and expanded support for physician and acute care services,” said Copping.
The province also announced it would be opening an Alberta-based assessment facility as a pilot project to allow international nurses to have their skill tests in Alberta, rather than having to travel to B.C. The program will receive a $200,000 grant and will pair nurses in one of three categories—registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and health care aides—based on assessments of skills.
