I am writing in regards to our medical system here in St. Albert.
I have lived in St. Albert for 36 years, happily I might add, up until recently. I have enjoyed the pleasure, which seems an unbelievable word here in Canada, here in Alberta, here in St. Albert, of having a family doctor all my life. Recently, my family doctor retired and I have been unable to find a doctor to replace him. There is not one doctor in St. Albert, Morinville or Spruce Grove taking new patients.
I am only one of many here in St. Albert to be in this position. Very soon this will affect everyone who has a family doctor ready to retire. We in St. Albert have been lucky to have a group of amazing men and women who have cared for us over the years. But alas, they too want to retire, and rightfully so. We have young men and women graduating in medicine that can’t get jobs here in Edmonton. We lose great talent to our neighbours in the south.
What is to become of the families in need of doctors in our community in the coming years? This is just the beginning. In a county that claims that we have so much, and we do in many areas, medicine is becoming a Third World problem right here at our back door. What are the politicians going to do about this very real problem? No one in Alberta or Canada should be without a family doctor.
We are becoming more and more like the U.S. every day. It is pretty frightening.
Terry O’Donnell, St. Albert
