EDMONTON – An Edmonton woman’s name was added to the list of thousands of Albertans who can’t find a family doctor after she was notified she lost hers through a lottery.
Mona Koch has had the same family doctor for eight years, but in November she received an email informing her that due to changes in her practice, Koch’s doctor would no longer be able to continue providing medical care to her.
Koch, 62, learned that because other doctors left the clinic, her doctor would be taking on some of their patients, forcing her to drop some of her own patients.
“Through a lottery system my name came up and I was no longer going to be her patient,” said Koch. “My doctor said that was the fairest way to do it. Well, that’s no lottery I wanted to win.”
Alberta NDP Health Critic David Shepherd said Koch’s experience is just another example of the chaos the UCP has inflicted on Alberta’s healthcare system.
“Over the past three years I’ve heard from thousands of Albertans about how they or their loved ones have been impacted by the chaos the UCP government has caused in our health-care system – from health-care workers who are so burned out they feel they have no other choice than to leave the province; to parents waiting at a hospital emergency for more than 17 hours with a sick child in their arms; to a woman who was told she could hire her own transport to take her ailing 92-year-old mother to emergency,” said Shepherd.
“Dozens of rural hospitals continue to see closures because of staff shortages and some parents have been forced to travel to other communities to have their babies delivered because there are no staff available for their obstetric units.”
Koch acknowledges she is just one of thousands of Albertans searching for a family doctor and is concerned about the chaos in health care.
“How long can this go on? Don’t think just because you have a family doctor, you won’t be impacted,” said Koch. “I had a fantastic family doctor and look what happened to me.”
The Alberta NDP will be rolling out a plan for family health care in the next few days.
“Rachel Notley and the Alberta NDP will end the UCP chaos in health care,” said Shepherd.
“We will launch the largest health-care recruitment campaign Alberta has ever seen and will make sure Albertans have access to a family doctor and the care they need, when they need it, close to home.”
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