2024/2025 Membership Renewal is now open!
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.
The Board meets next week in final preparations for the September 22-23 Representative Forum. The RF’s guidance will be more important than ever at this time and in this environment.
The 2023-24 annual membership renewal statements will be sent to all members next week. After five years of frozen AMA membership dues, the Board has decided to increase dues for some membership categories. This will help the AMA to continue providing support to members in these increasingly challenging times.
Last week, Minister LaGrange announced that Alberta Health Services has signed a memorandum of understanding with the ownership of Dynalife, which will see the private provider (Dynalife) transfer all of its staff, operations and physical locations in the province to the government-owned Alberta Precision Labs by the end of 2023.
This is another brief update on activity. There has been daily contact with government and AMA senior staff. There have been meetings between primary care physician leaders (Section of Family Medicine, Section of Rural Medicine, Primary Care Networks Physician Leads Executive) and the minister.
Alberta Health has released a bulletin regarding fee-for-service retroactive payments under the agreement. This is the second retroactive payment for the 2022-23 year. It covers the period December 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023. Payments will be made Friday, August 18. Read the bulletin here.
You will have received an Income Equity Initiative Update from our AMA Compensation Committee Co-Chairs yesterday. I am writing to encourage members to review this update including the linked videos.
I promised to keep you apprised about discussions with government. There have been numerous government meetings in recent weeks including with the Board of Directors, primary care physician leaders and senior staff. We have communicated at every opportunity that there is a deepening crisis in primary care and that action is needed now to stabilize community family medicine clinics. The minister has listened to our concerns.
After more than 30 years of service to the Alberta Medical Association, our Executive Director Mike Gormley is retiring October 1. There will be more to say about his departure, but I am writing today to let you know that the Board of Directors has conducted an exhaustive search and appointed his successor.
An AMA-Alberta Health Alternative Relationship Plan Working Group will begin meeting in September, as provided for under our agreement. This is essential work to remove many barriers that have existed in developing and implementing ARPs.
Community practices across the province are imploding and must be stabilized. We have been meeting with Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange and her team. The crisis in family medicine is the first priority at every table and it appears we are being heard.