President's Letter
Dear Members,
I wrote to you May 31 regarding the fact that our laboratory medicine colleagues have been without a contract for five years despite our continued efforts to advance one. Alberta Health Services agreed last May to the AMA’s proposal for arbitration and this is now scheduled to take place in November.
In August I wrote again about the announcement that the ownership of DynaLIFE, including its staff, operations and physical locations, would transfer to Alberta Precision Labs (a wholly-owned subsidiary of AHS).
Our colleagues were hopeful that this change might be an opportunity to bring some much needed stability to the laboratory medicine services environment, particularly since laboratory medicine, like many other medical specialties, is having difficulty attracting physicians to meet our population needs. Obviously, since access has proven to be a major issue with DynaLIFE, the problem is not going to be fixed by requiring physicians to sign lower grade contracts with APL.
Now more than ever, our laboratory medicine colleagues deserve a fair process toward stability. We are working with the section and talking with AHS leadership on how best to resolve both the immediate and longer-term challenges in this area.
As I wrote in May: Without laboratory services, the system would grind to a halt. These physicians, working hard, out of the limelight, deserve to be treated with respect.
You are always welcome to share your thoughts with me. You can email me via president@albertadoctors.org. You can also comment on this letter on the AMA website.
Regards,
fred Rinaldi, MD, CCFP, FCFP, LLB, MBA, MPA(HSA), BCom
President, Alberta Medical Association
"Fate whispers to the warrior, 'You can not withstand the storm.' The warrior whispers back, 'I am the storm.'"