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Alberta Government tore up the existing contract with AMA and imposed changes to billing and compensation after talks with the Alberta Medical Association broke down.
AMA consulted with Government to create the Tentative Agreement Package.
AMA Members voted No on Tentative Agreement Package.
AMA consulted with its members to find out more about the challenges members saw with the Tentative Agreement Package.
AMA brought findings from its consultations with its membership to the provincial government to incorporate in the Agreement.
These include:
- Need to acknowledge and address staff shortages
- Need a formal dispute mechanism, the Minister should not have unilateral say on funding issues between contracts
The Alberta government is refusing to listen to the AMA.
The AMA needs your help in advocating for the government to include these findings within the agreement to ensure access to quality, affordable healthcare in Alberta.
This is a direct threat to Alberta’s public health care system.
Shorter appointments with your family doctor, as mandated by the Government of Alberta’s decision
Potential doctor shortages due to doctors leaving Alberta for greener pastures.
The fee for doctors that lets them deliver care to patients with complex needs (those that need more than 15 minutes) is getting cut in half. Specialist referral appointments will have shorter appointment times due to the changes, which means patients with complex cases will have a harder time getting the answers they need.
An unprecedented level of insecurity for Alberta’s physician community – particularly for family doctors and those in rural centres.
It is clear the UCP government wasn’t serious about a negotiated settlement – because they ripped up the contract 10 days before it expired.
The AMA came to the table with a proposal that would have saved hundreds of millions of dollars – and even incorporated some of what government wanted – but the Government was not interested in a negotiation.
Getting a doctor in small town Alberta will be even harder.
Family doctors are, at the end of the day, also small business-people – these changes have the potential to put them out of business.
Getting access to advanced diagnostic services outside of major cities will be reduced.
