Urgent, short-term measures will be followed by long-term strategic planning.
StettlerLocal.com on July 2, 2024 at 6:35 am
Town of Stettler Media Release
Following a joint meeting on June 20, 2024, elected officials from the County of Stettler and
the Town of Stettler have informally agreed to adopt and implement urgent physician recruitment measures.
The Town and County have both held discussions with provincial and Alberta Health Services representatives about the challenges we have been facing attracting and retaining physicians to our community, which include red tape reduction and updated physician compensation models to make practising "rural" more enticing. To ensure success, the Town and County have agreed special measures are necessary.
The immediate course of action is to actively recruit General Practitioners, with special consideration for physicians whose practice will include Anaesthesia and Child Delivery.
Initial initiatives are considered a crisis response to our region’s current physician shortage and will be reassessed for success on an ongoing basis. Once the community’s healthcare condition has stabilized, the region will focus on long-term planning for recruitment and retention using holistic and forward-thinking strategies built around the attractive benefits of joining the Stettler community.
Says :
“Health care and access to health care is crucial for the long term sustainability and independence of our region," says County of Stettler Reeve Clarke. "We will continue to advocate and work through this doctor shortage crisis with our partners, and seek solutions to ensure essential care is being provided and always available to our residents and visitors.”
“We’ve been working with our partners at the County of Stettler to incentivize physicians to not only bring their skills to Stettler, but to be welcomed and become meaningful members of our community," adds Town of Stettler Mayor Nolls. "We are all in agreement that crisis measures are needed at this time, and are committing to work together to get through this emergent shortage.”
The Town and County of Stettler appreciate the support and collaborative efforts of our community's health professionals, service groups, and all interested parties as they continue to work together with our Alberta Government representatives to further address this province-wide, rural concern.