Dear Members,
I have two pieces of news for you today. One is a new temporary physician support program. The other is regarding nurse practitioners.
A rural support program under our agreement
The rural Physician Recruitment and Retention Support Program (PRRSP) will be launching next week.
The PRRSP is a temporary program, funded by Alberta Health, which provides eligible physicians with financial support to continue practicing in underserved rural communities in Alberta. This program provides $15M per year, for two years to eligible physicians. That works out to two payments of roughly $4,500 per eligible year for every eligible physician – plus a top up at conclusion of the program. To qualify for payment through this program, you must have provided insured medical services in an eligible rural community in Alberta for at least 100 days during one or both of the 2022-23 or 2023-24 fiscal years. Note that if you declare that you are eligible, please allow two to three weeks for your eligibility to be reviewed and payment to be processed.
For more information about the program, eligibility and payment details, visit the AMA website.
Nurse practitioner news
I considered independent practice, but my work is not independent.
These were the words of a nurse practitioner at the November 20 news conference, hosted by the Minister to announce the first funding recipients of the Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Program. When this program was announced six months ago, the AMA expressed great concern that it would: encourage siloed, independent nurse practitioner clinics; increase fragmentation of the system; and, without access to the skill set and safety associated with physicians and teams, put patients at risk. What was announced, however, demonstrates the value of team-based care and of family physicians as colleagues with invaluable knowledge and skill that is different than that of nurse practitioners.
There was recognition that stand-alone practices are challenging - something that family physicians and rural generalist physicians know all about. So far, over 120 expressions of interest have been received by government, 67 applications were received and 56 were approved. Of these, 33 are situations where the nurse practitioners will be working in clinic teams across the province.
But what about the Physician Comprehensive Care Model? In answer to media questioning, the Minister stated that they are working diligently and anticipate having it up and running for April 1, 2025. I have spoken with the Minister to push for a formal announcement and clarity on enrollment processes and timelines. Stay tuned.
Sincerely,
Shelley Duggan, MD, FRCPC
AMA President