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The "voice of the AMA" – Published regularly throughout the year, the President's Letter informs you about Alberta Medical Association positions on key and complex issues in Alberta’s health care.
Read the October 23 President's Letter
Here is AMA Fact Checkup – Issue 2. In this issue, we check and correct government on statements they have made.
Every day, misinformation about the health care system – often coming from government talking points – gets amplified and repeated in media coverage and on social media. For physicians, evidence matters. The barrage of misleading commentary is beyond frustrating.
Today we are launching a major advertising campaign.
The main message is this: Government is not listening to physicians. Decisions are being made without application of relevant expertise. Our system needs informed reform.
This is my first President’s Letter. I am honoured to take on this role. I will have your back and fight with everything I’ve got.
Comments on the most recent President's Letter are enabled and welcome. You may also contact the AMA President by email at [email protected].
Below you will find previous issues of The President's Letter. For older issues no longer on the website, contact us.
Recent years have caused at-risk individuals in cities and towns to become homeless or lose access to support for substance use disorders or mental illness. While they have struggled to get the help they need, increasingly toxic street drugs have taken a horrible toll. We lost 1,498 vulnerable Albertans in 2022 to unintentional drug poisoning. In 2019 that number was 626.
Today is National Physicians’ Day. A day to celebrate the contributions of the extraordinary people who choose to serve in the medical profession.
The most recent issue in our Handle with Care election information program explores Indigenous health. By almost every measure, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Alberta experience poorer health outcomes as a result of ongoing health inequities and barriers to care. This is evident in higher rates of chronic illness, mental health challenges and addiction. It’s unacceptable that this reality persists in 2023.
The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) reported an unprecedented number of unfilled family medicine spaces in Alberta in their round one match this year.
The Community Information Integration and Central Patient Attachment Registry (CII/CPAR) enables physicians and their teams to share patient information to Alberta Netcare directly from their electronic medical record (EMR).
The latest issue in our Handle with Care election information program is Rural Health Care. Pick almost any topic in health care and you will find the environment is more complicated or resources more scarce in rural settings. It’s the nature of rural medicine but it’s more difficult than ever right now.
The Joint Physician Advocacy Committee seeks to understand member issues in practice and advises the AMA on our advocacy activities. JPAC has found that while there are many things that physicians need as professionals, we also have needs as individuals.
The third issue of the AMA’s election information campaign is Pediatric Mental Health. This care deficit issue deserves a lot of attention.
The AMA Agreement package includes an AMA-Alberta Health Services Memorandum of Understanding with an Engagement Framework for physician compensation in AHS facilities. The AMA has been advocating for this approach, including: consistent, transparent principles; structure that guides policy according to system objectives; clear roles and responsibilities; physician engagement; and dispute resolution.
Alberta Health sent a bulletin today letting physicians know that the year one allocation has been completed and a new Schedule of Medical Benefits has been issued. These changes are already reflected in the AMA’s Fee Navigator® and we’ve put together background information (member login required), including a short video, about the allocation process.