Thread by @Hell_Berta

Dozens Of Calgary Emergency Room Doctors Speak Out Against Cuts:

cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

Alberta government terminating master agreement and introducing new rules

Emergency room doctors in Calgary, like Shawn Dowling, left, and Stettler physician J.B. Lombaard, right, are speaking out against the Alberta government's changes to the health-care system. (Monty Kruger/CBC/J.B. Lombaard)

Last week's move by the provincial government to end its master agreement has prompted dozens of Calgary emergency room doctors to speak out, voicing their "deep and urgent concerns" with the resulting changes.

In a letter addressed to Health Minister Tyler Shandro, 85 Calgary emergency room doctors write that the changes will have "significant" negative short- and long-term effects on Albertans.

Shawn Dowling, an emergency physician at the Foothills Hospital and Alberta Children's Hospital, was one of the doctors who helped develop the letter.

"This is an unprecedented letter in Calgary In 16 years I've never seen physicians get together to write something like this Dowling said & that's a function of what's happening right now......

.....we felt it was important for us to advocate for our patients and advocate for our primary care colleagues who are going to be severely impacted by this."

The new rules, which are now scheduled to be in place on April 1, will change how doctors are paid. One of the most controversial developments involves changes to a fee known as a complex care modifier, which doctors were able to charge if visits took longer than 15 minutes.

Dowling said the complete impact of the cuts would likely mean that family doctors won't be able to provide a complete level of care, which might mean more people could be pushed to Calgary emergency rooms.

Undoubtedly, these proposed changes will increase the volumes in the emergency department, which is, from a patient perspective, not where they want to be getting their primary care," Dowling said....

In an email to CBC News, a spokesperson for the health ministry said the Alberta Medical Association failed to put forward alternatives that would hold the line on physician compensatio

According to the letter released by emergency room doctors Friday, patients with complex medical conditions or mental health illnesses will "suffer the most" having to seek care in emergency rooms.

Edward Les, another Calgary-based ER doctor who signed the letter, said that he did feel that some impacts would be felt in the Alberta medical community.

Most physicians will stay in AB We're dedicated to our patients we'll stick it out grind it out he said But absolutely the way this is playing out it's becoming increasingly clear that in order to remain financially viable, some clinics are going to have to do things differently.

One of the unintended consequences of what has transpired, Les said, would be felt in the next generation of doctors.

"A large proportion of those doctors will choose to establish roots in their profession in other jurisdictions where they feel more respected & where they can expect to have a proper relationship with government," he said.

In Stettler, northeast of Calgary, some doctors say they've given their notice to Alberta Health Services that they will rescind their emergency room practising privileges

Dr. Lombaard, a family physician in Stettler, told AHS Friday morning he no longer wishes to work in the ER

Working in an emergency room comes with a personal cost and sometimes a financial cost Lombaard said Financially and personally I had to make a decision on whether it was still viable to me

The reward makes it bearable for us to do it Now theres nothing incentivizing us to do it

Lombaard said six out of nine doctors who work at the ER in Stettler are planning to rescind their privileges as of April 1, with the rest following suit in June.

#SaveOurDoctors #SaveOurNurses #SaveHealthcare #ABbudget #AB #ableg #abpoli #abed #ABBudget2020 #ABdoctors4patients @RachelNotley @jkenney @Hell_Berta @GreenPartyAB @AlbertaLiberals