A new task force will begin addressing St. Albert’s shortage of family doctors this fall.
City council voted unanimously to launch the task force at its meeting Monday.
“I’m anticipating there to be action within the next council term,” said Mayor Nolan Crouse in an interview.
The task force has been on Crouse’s agenda since about March, when he learned that many St. Albert residents were travelling to a new clinic built in Spruce Grove by a group of doctor partners.
The mayor will chair the new task force, which will also include one city councillor, community members, medical professionals and city administrative staff at the discretion of the city manager.
The committee will meet about every two months and will likely split into several subcommittees to explore the various issues involved.
These will likely include a needs assessment that quantifies the magnitude of the problem in St. Albert. Also included will be a plan to attract doctors and an exploration of whether the city needs some new facilities and how it can make these happen.
“It’s breaking this down into some subcommittees and then bringing them all together,” Crouse said.
To date, about 14 people have expressed an interest in serving on the task force, Crouse said. It will be the mayor’s role to assemble a broad mix of skills and experience, he said.
Crouse would like to see a solid plan come together within the next year, with results coming within the three-year term of the new city council that will be decided at the Oct. 18 election.
“I want it to be more of a private enterprise and not rely on other levels of government,” he said. “If we have to rely on other levels of government we might be here a long time.”
On June 28 council asked administration to assemble some terms of reference for the task force. Council was particularly interested in learning more about the model used in Spruce Grove, which has led to a substantial increase in family doctors practicing at the Parkland Medical Associates clinic.
Council hasn’t allotted any money to the task force, which Crouse is hoping can function on a volunteer basis.
“I’m trying to wear a fiscally conservative hat right now,” he said.
Sheila Cousineau of the St. Albert & Sturgeon Primary Care Network thinks the task force is a good idea.
There are no statistics to quantify the extent of the doctor shortage but a study she did two years ago found that 17 per cent of family doctors who belong to the network were planning to retire in the next three years.
“Quite a few of them have already retired and there was an impact,” Cousineau said.
St. Albert resident John Smith, who travels to Spruce Grove to see a doctor, is concerned that a solution could still be two or three years away.
“As a senior, I’ll be lucky to be alive if it comes to be,” he said.
