President's Letter
Dear Members:
Providing care to Ukrainian evacuees
As Alberta welcomes displaced Ukrainians – with hundreds more expected to arrive in the coming weeks – I know as physicians we will do everything we can to enable their access to care until they can safely return home or permanently relocate to Canada.
Health care will very likely be a priority concern for many of the incoming evacuees, and we will have an important role to play in addressing those needs. We’ve been informed that Ukrainian evacuees arriving in Alberta on February 24 or after (those who have evacuated Ukraine or cannot return there), will be covered under the new Ukrainian Evacuee Temporary Health Benefits Program. This program will provide temporary coverage to Ukrainian evacuees who do not qualify for registration and coverage under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan (AHCIP) and Hospital Benefits Plan, or other public health benefits because they are not considered residents or deemed residents, as defined in the Alberta Health Care Insurance Act.
If Ukrainian evacuees present and require care, please provide it and use the billing process outlined in the latest bulletin from Alberta Health. Many of the evacuees will not have English as their first language and physicians are reminded they can make use of dedicated number, at no cost, to access a Ukrainian or Russian AHS professional medical interpreter: 1-833-955-2171.
I know Alberta’s physicians will do everything we can to make these evacuees feel safe and cared for as they arrive in our province. Thank you ahead of time for the work I know you will do to help them in their time of need.
Negotiations webinar
The Section of Family Medicine, Section of Rural Medicine and Specialty Care Alliance will co-host a webinar on April 5 from 6 – 8 p.m. to update members on negotiations.
The webinar will include a panel presentation, followed by a Q & A session with all attendees. The presentation component will provide members with the following:
- An update on our interest-based negotiations with Alberta Health.
- A progress update on the AMA's lawsuit.
- Information about the latest progress on the Income Equity Initiative.
The session will be recorded and posted to the AMA website (member login required), and we will inform members when the recording is available for viewing.
Please register here for the April 5 webinar. We look forward to seeing you there!
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Vesta Michelle Warren, MD, CCFP, FCFP
President, Alberta Medical Association