The Government of Alberta has announced the launch of a plan aimed to improve health care in rural and remote communities across the province.
On Thursday, Alberta’s government introduced a $16-million Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program, an $800,000 Medical First Responder (MFR) Grant program, and a $600,000 Emergency Medical Responder Education Grant program.
“There is an urgent need for customized supports in rural and remote communities across Alberta. This action plan will serve as a roadmap to build and maintain access to high-quality health care in these areas of the province," said Adriana LaGrange, minister of health and Red Deer-North MLA.
The Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program will support family medicine residents who are interested in practising in rural or remote Alberta. This initiative will provide up to $8 million annually for the next two years.
According to the president of the Alberta Medical Association, the plan announced Thursday by the province is a strategy that has been in place since the 1990s.
"There are even Alberta-specific published studies that explain why these programs have not always been successful, and what government has to do to sustain the traction of these programs. So, saying that this announcement will “revitalize rural health care” is an exaggeration," said Dr. Shelley Duggan in a statement late Thursday.
"Additional support and funding for rural medicine are always appreciated, but the Minister’s announcement fails to address the parallel and accelerating crises Albertans are facing: (i) in rural generalist and family medicine and (ii) in our acute care system. Both are overstretched and near collapse as we head into the winter season, which will bring an overwhelming wave of sick patients into the system."
The province also announced bursaries of either $125,000 (for rural stream applicants) or $200,000 (for remote stream applicants) will be available to medical students in their final year of an undergraduate medical program at any medical university who have been matched with a family medicine residency program at the University of Alberta or University of Calgary.
The bursaries will also be available to residents currently completing a family medicine residency at the University of Alberta or University of Calgary, regardless of their year of study, including those graduating in June 2025. In return, bursary recipients will commit to delivering comprehensive patient care in eligible communities for three years after completing their residency, enhancing the capacity of rural and remote communities.
The AMA added that 68 per cent of physicians are planning on leaving the province by 2029, leaving a lack of training options.
"Training tomorrow’s workforce is important but will be meaningless if we can’t maintain the physicians we have today. And, if we lose the physicians we have today, who will train those new students applying for bursaries?" Duggan said.
This initiative is one part of a comprehensive strategy to build a thriving rural and remote health care workforce. Applications for 2024-25 will open in December.
Alberta’s government is also implementing two grant programs to strengthen rural, remote, and First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities by attracting and retaining paramedics: Medical First Responder Grant and Emergency Medical Responder Education Grant. This will also support the work to address long emergency response times by funding new medical first responder programs in communities with limited access to health care services, the provincial government states in a media release.
“The (Rural Municipalities of Alberta) is encouraged by the Government of Alberta’s efforts into applying a rural lens on how health care is funded, structured and delivered. This plan is a significant step towards designing and implementing a system that works for rural communities across the province," said Paul McLauchlin, president of Rural Municipalities of Alberta.
