Stettler Needs Doctors, a new community action group highlighting the critical need for physicians in the community, hosted a town hall-style meeting on July 25.
The meeting was hosted in the Red Arena at the Stettler Recreation Centre beginning at 6 p.m.
Speakers at the meeting included committee members, local elected officials, a designate from the area's member of parliament, Damien Kurek, officials from Alberta Health Services (AHS) and delegates from the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons.
While there was no opportunity for community members to ask questions in an "open-mic"-type of forum, those with questions were invited to write them down and stick them to a board at the entrance to the arena.
"We're a community in crisis," said Leona Thorogood, who served as moderator of the event.
"It's pretty obvious why we are doing this."
According to AHS' own estimates, a region the size of Stettler should have 14 to 16 physicians. Currently, there are less than half that working in the community with another slated to leave in September, which, according to Thorogood, makes for an "oppressive work-life balance."
Dean Lovell, the chair of the Stettler Needs Doctors committee, noted during his time at the podium that the group formed quickly due to a perceived need to "hit the ground running."
Lovell continued that without a remedy to the current physician situation, the quality of life residents enjoy in Stettler will be gone, but Stettler is by no means in a "unique" situation.
"It's especially evident in rural areas," said Lovell.
Looking at the number of doctors serving rural areas, Lovell said that of around 11,000 registered physicians in Alberta only about 725 work in rural areas. When the provincial population is looked at, about 20 per cent of the population lives in rural areas, but only about 10 per cent of the physicians work there.
"We need another 710 doctors to service rural Alberta," said Lovell.
Lovell says that the purpose behind the committee is to serve as a "united voice" in the community, to bring attention to the issues, and to try and "sweeten the pot" to get physicians to agree to come rural.
Current Stettler physician Kim Chapman was in attendance at the meeting.
Chapman noted that it was easy to point fingers at the issues the community was facing, at AHS, at the Government of Alberta, at Justin Trudeau, but she also noted that it was "not about the finger pointing" but about "working together" to make some progress on an important issue.
Reeve Larry Clarke and Stettler Mayor Sean Nolls also took their turns at the podium.
They highlighted that the physician shortage in the province is a national issue and that all levels need to make changes to get physicians into the community.
"Without doctors and hospitals, our communities die," said Clarke.
Clarke noted that the Stettler Hospital and Care Centre has "state-of-the-art" equipment and serves neighbouring communities as far away as Special Areas in the east for Labour and Delivery.
He continued that thanks to the care provided by Stettler Hospital, seniors tend to stay in the community.
"We need to keep our doctors here to keep them," said Clarke.
Nolls noted that physician retention and recruitment is a "complex" issue, but thanks to efforts by MLA Nate Horner's office, the situation in Stettler has been escalated to a "crisis level"
"We all have our role to play," said Nolls.
"We're all together for one common goal."
Nolls highlighted a recent agreement signed by the town and the county which sees new physicians in the community offered a signing bonus of between $50,000 and $70,000 depending on qualifications if they sign a five-year contract.
"We're hoping the results are good, and prompt," said Nolls.
"The incentive program is really important."
County of Stettler Coun. Justin Stevens also spoke on behalf of the Stettler and District Ambulance Association.
Stevens noted that the more often the Stettler Emergency Department faces closures due to physician shortages, the greater the strain is on the local ambulance crews due to more emergency calls, and more inter-facility transfers.
"The staff does a fantastic job," said Stevens.
He continued that family physicians act as gatekeepers to the healthcare system; without family doctors, there is no referrals for specialized treatments or referrals to specialists.
"This is a trickle-down effect," said Stevens.
"With no doctors, you don't have access to any health care."
Lora Maygard, the director of AHS rural acute care, spoke after the representative from MP Damien Kurek.
Maygard noted that AHS has "a desire to see more physicians in the community" and were supporting the Stettler hospital with continual improvement and growth.
"We too are committed to seeing doctors into these renovated spaces," said Maygard.
"It's always the first priority for patients to get the care they need. Care in your community is what want to see, we share that."
While at the microphone, Maygard cleared up a misconception that AHS hires doctors.
She noted that AHS provides contracts to doctors allowing them to work in AHS facilities, but they do not hire them.
"We support doctors," said Maygard.
She notes that the support is by way of providing nursing staff and facilities for them to work in.
Before the meeting closed, Dr. Wendy Fortna, from Hanna, Alta., spoke about how doctors are certified to work in the province with AHS, and Dr. Mike Caffaro, with the Alberta College of Physicians and Surgeons, spoke about the registration process.
After all the presenters finished, Thorogood moderated a 45-minute question-and-answer session from questions that had been written at the entrance to the arena.
In total, around 450 people were in attendance for the two-hour-plus town hall.
In addition, Stettler Needs Doctors was also selling lawn signs at the town hall.
According to Thorogood, over 100 signs were sold at the meeting and over 400 have been sold in total.
