Doctors meet to plan next step

Doctors will meet this weekend in Edmonton to plan their next move after the province imposed a deal physicians say will hurt their finances and their patients.

“This weekend, Alberta’s physicians will meet to talk about the future. Theirs ... and yours,” the Alberta Medical Association announced in a newspaper advertisement Tuesday, part of an ad campaign the AMA launched last week that accuses the government of misleading doctors ahead of the last provincial election.

Both sides are working this week to find a facilitator who can help them relaunch talks and finalize a settlement by the end of February, Health Minister Fred Horne said in an interview Tuesday.

“I think there’s a goodwill commitment on both sides to meet that deadline,” Horne said.

“Once the facilitator is in place, then we’ll use the services of that person to develop an issues list and a plan for the negotiations to make sure that we’re as clear as we can possibly be on the issues we want to address and that we’ve got a plan to make sure we can be successful. That’s the focus right now.”

Horne declined to comment on the doctors’ weekend meeting. “We’re focused on working with the AMA to get an agreement.”

The association’s president, Dr. Michael Giuffre, said in a letter to members Tuesday that recent progress will change some of the focus at the doctors’ representative forum meeting Saturday.

“We must, however, remain vigilant and ensure that we obtain a result that will provide physicians with an enhanced voice in the system, protect and build important programs, as well as ensure a fair resolution of the economic issue,” Giuffre wrote.

About 130 delegates will attend the special meeting. The representative forum is the AMA’s governing body and includes delegates from every medical specialty area and all areas of the province, as well as medical students and residents, medical school deans and past AMA presidents.

Delegates will discuss negotiations with the province, legal issues and public opinion around the dispute, Giuffre’s letter said.

The AMA has been running halfpage ads in newspapers across the province that criticize the province for signing an agreement in principle with physicians in March, then withdrawing support for that agreement after the April election.

Alberta Liberal health critic Dr. David Swann called on both sides to restart negotiations.

“Inflammatory public ads on both sides do not help the search for resolution,” Swann said in a news release Tuesday.

“Earnest negotiation and, ultimately, binding arbitration, as supported by the Canada Health Act, are required.”