Travis Toews discusses physician shortage in Lethbridge

UCP leadership hopeful Travis Toews was in Lethbridge on Tuesday chatting about his leadership platform. Toews held a meet and greet at the Nord-Bridge Seniors Centre. The issue of no doctors accepting new patients in Lethbridge has been a hot button topic the past few years. The only clinic currently accepting new patients in Lethbridge is the Prairie Treatment Opioid Dependency Clinic. Toews says if he’s elected premier he will make sure that there are more doctors coming to Alberta and in particular Lethbridge.

“We know in Lethbridge that there’s an issue with physicians. Look, there’s a number of things we need to do. Number one, we need to ensure we have enough regional incentives, rural remote incentives, and that they’re applied in the right regions. So that we can attract and retain physicians out of Calgary and Edmonton. A lot of our physicians like to stay in our larger centres. I would add Grande Prairie to that, we’re also in a similar situation in Grande Prairie today. The other thing we need to do as well when it comes to physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals, we need to review the credentialing requirements. Credentialing criterion of our credentialing bodies in health care, and ensure we’re pulling in as many foreign trained health care professionals as possible. That there is a track to get them right up to speed so that they can deliver health care in this province.”

Toews will be headed to Medicine Hat next for a UCP leadership candidate debate which will be held on Wednesday night. Bridge City News will be there.