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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.
The Board and I have provided briefing materials and have had numerous interactions with Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange in recent days. AMA senior staff are also in contact with their counterparts at Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.
There have been multiple media reports regarding the resignation of Dr. Esther Tailfeathers from the AHS Indigenous Wellness Core. The AMA immediately commented on this with the essential voice of our Indigenous Health Committee. I also made a statement to commend a group of AHS physicians who courageously penned an open letter to media.
Connect Care is one of the topics about which members contact me frequently. The Specialty Care Alliance recently conducted a survey to assess the impact on members.
With the election behind us and the new government in place, there are many things to get done. Minister Adriana LaGrange and I had a brief conversation this morning. I appreciated receiving her call.
All specialties in our profession deserve due process for contractual discussions, with access to dispute resolution when required. I am writing you today to let you know that there’s one community in particular that is still waiting to see due process: laboratory medicine.
The United Conservative Party has won the provincial election and will form the government until 2027. I have written today to Premier Smith to congratulate her on the outcome of the vote.
The final component of our election information program is hearing from the two major parties in response to the questions we posed in our seven-topic Handle With Care series. You can find their answers here.
Last night the AMA hosted a virtual patient town hall about health care with Ms. Danielle Smith and Ms. Rachel Notley. The video is now available for viewing. More than 2,200 patients joined the virtual event on a long weekend Monday evening.
Every day, angry and frustrated members write to me about their financial challenges. I understand. I have the same issues. But we are the AMA. We don’t approach challenges as an organized labor group would. Negotiating fair and competitive compensation is a most important Key Result Area, but we seek to do this in a way that benefits patient care.
Today we release the final issue of our election information program Handle With Care. The primary care profile addresses: the state of family medicine; the need to sustainably support clinics and family physicians that are in crisis; and the value of providing every Albertan with a medical home.