A shortage of family doctors in St. Albert appears to be as severe as ever while the city continues its efforts to attract more.
There are roughly 60 family physicians in St. Albert but only two are accepting new patients, leaving many St. Albert residents with little choice when experiencing medical problems.
"I had called the Alberta Health Link number and they told me there weren't any doctors accepting new patients in St. Albert," said Darren Chernuka, adding several doctors were instead suggested in the Edmonton area.
Chernuka and his wife have been without a family doctor for several months after their previous family physician retired.
"It's just frustrating," he said. "You can still go to Medicentres but sometimes … it's just better to have someone who knows your medical history."
Resident Curtis Crouse is also without a family doctor and has been for roughly one year.
"I haven't been sick, so it hasn't been a huge issue," he said. "If I get sick, then I'll be caught with my hands tied."
He said he knows it won't be an easy task finding a new physician and since his doctor visits are rare, he hasn't put much effort into the search.
"From what other people have gone through, I've absorbed the fact that I will face difficulty," he said. "How come no one's aspiring to be a general practitioner? Maybe there isn't enough glory in it to make it worthwhile."
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta's (CPSA) online database listed nine doctors last week as either accepting new patients or possibly accepting new patients.
Only two of those doctors are actually accepting new patients: Dr. Rezvan Ghiassi-Razavi and Dr. Vajdiyeh Shaker, both from Tudor Glen Market.
"I think it's unacceptable," said Mayor Nolan Crouse. "There are many St. Albert residents who do not have a family physician."
Attraction plan
He created a physician attraction task force last year and a survey was conducted to determine the magnitude of the shortage. He said the survey could not report the full magnitude, due to demographic restrictions, but said it's apparent more family physicians are needed.
There are roughly 60 family physicians in St. Albert and Mayor Crouse said between six and 10 additional doctors are required to fill the void.
There are a small but steady number of new doctors moving to St. Albert every year, but this growth isn't enough to keep up with patient demand, said Darryl LaBuick, a family doctor and board member with the St. Albert and Sturgeon Primary Care Network (PCN).
"It seems that whenever a new physician moves into the community, their practices are full within a very short period of time," LaBuick said. "It's a constant challenge and it will probably continue to worsen as time goes on."
The Alberta government has allocated $100 million of the 2012-2013 budget to primary health care and addictions and mental health.
In order to enhance access to primary care, including attaching patients to family physicians, a 75 to 80 per cent increase is needed, LaBuick said.
"All PCNs across the province are dealing with some significant budgetary challenges and at our present state, we seem to be doing stuff to the best we can but in order to take that next step where we want to really expand our ability to improve primary care, we need to have some prominent funding increases to help that," he said.
He said the largest hurdle in recruiting and retaining doctors in St. Albert relates to the cost of rent and real estate. The financial burden in developing buildings to house doctors' offices is extremely high, but equally as vital, he said.
Since the task force was created in May 2011, the city has been working with a private, unnamed developer to bring a new medical facility to St. Albert, Crouse said. There is no timeline for this development, but he expects an update in the coming months.
"We are hopeful that they will be doing a fairly large development of a medical facility with the objective of attracting family doctors to that facility," he said, adding a second developer is interested in attracting family doctors to a building on St. Albert Trail.
Crouse said the current lack of facilities and doctors in St. Albert often sends patients elsewhere or to the emergency room.
"When people go to the hospital to see a doctor, I think that's the burden," Crouse said, adding this contributes to long wait times. "If that becomes the easy way out, then that starts to fill up the system."
The provincial budget allocates $16 billion to the health-care system, which accounts for 39 per cent of the province's total expenditures. For every dollar, 84 cents is derived from provincial taxes.
