Doctors agree to funding deal with the province
Physicians to see an average raise of four per cent over four years
Alberta doctors have approved a new agreement with the province after more than two years of turmoil sparked by a UCP government decision to unilaterally scrap a previous funding contract.
The deal sees physician compensation increase by an average of four per cent over the next four years, including a lump sum one per cent increase as a “recognition payment” for work over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doctors in specialties facing what the province describes as “greater financial pressures” will see slightly bigger increases to their billing rates, including those working in family medicine, pediatrics, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, and psychiatry.
Also included in the agreement is a government promise to repeal a 2019 change to the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act that allowed the province to unilaterally end its master agreement with doctors — a step former health minister Tyler Shandro took in February 2020.
In return, the AMA will back down from a lawsuit seeking $255 million in damages and acknowledgments the province's actions violated the Charter.
With about 45 per cent turnout from Alberta Medical Association membership, a little more than 70 per cent voted in favour of the new deal.
Thursday's announcement comes after AMA membership voted down a tentative agreement in 2021, leading to the start of a new round of talks with a third-party facilitator early this year.
Health Minister Jason Copping struck a collaborative tone Thursday, touting the newly ratified agreement as a foundation for rebuilding the relationship between doctors and government.
He said it's a step toward “urgently” stabilizing Alberta's healthcare system as well as attracting more doctors to the province and keeping them here.
“Our objective as a government has been, simply, we want competitive pay for doctors,” he said. “We need to work jointly to find solutions.”
An additional $252 million in spending will go toward initiatives to help bring doctors to underserved areas, and primary care networks are slated to get $40 million lump-sum increases over the first two years of the deal.
DEAL STRUCK AS UCP LEADER DECISION LOOMS
A new UCP leader — and by extension, a new premier — will be named next week. When Copping was asked Thursday whether he's received assurances by the leadership candidates that they will repeal the measure that allows the termination of compensation-related agreements, the minister didn't give specifics.
“I can tell you that they understand the importance of the deal and they understand the importance of doctors in terms of moving forward,” he said.
AMA president Vesta Michelle Warren said her members were “very clear” that the legal action against the government would end only once the repeal has happened.
She said the deal is a start, but there's more work to be done on building trust.
“My plea to politicians everywhere is stability is necessary to begin rebuilding and healing and making change. Introduction of more chaos is not helpful,” she said.
Opposition NDP health critic David Shepherd said he is “deeply concerned” that the outcome of the Oct. 6 UCP leadership election could affect the government's commitment to follow through with the agreement.
University of Calgary health law specialist Lorian Hardcastle said while the new agreement offers some certainty, there are question marks ahead for Alberta's health system.
“We've heard from the different leadership candidates different visions for AHS. And of course that's the environment in which many doctors work,” she said.
“The agreement is part of it, but the bigger factor is going to be how whoever's in charge approaches the health-care system, AHS and their relationship with doctors in the AMA.”