CALGARY — Alberta's health minister says he hasn't given up on resolving a bitter dispute with the province's doctors that developed after he tore up their master pay agreement.
Tyler Shandro said Monday that he is happy to continue talking with the Alberta Medical Association and met with president Dr. Christine Molnar for an extended period last week.
He said there is definitely "an uncertainty" in the relationship between the association and the provincial government.
Shandro said the government provided doctors with a draft master agreement on Aug. 11.
"We invited the AMA to go through that draft and to red-line it and tell us how they want to be able to amend the draft we have given so we can work with them," Shandro said.
The Alberta Medical Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the original agreement was torn up in February, many doctors, particularly in rural areas, said they could no longer afford to both work in hospitals and keep up their practices.
The medical association has said at least 40 per cent of its members have at least contemplated leaving Alberta.
Shandro has dismissed that figure.
"We actually haven't seen that happen in our rural communities, quite frankly, and we look forward to continuing to work with the 700 physicians who serve our rural and small urban patients in the province," he said.
Nine physicians in Sundre gave up their hospital privileges, then switched to a status, which allows them to get paid differently, but they still work at the hospital there, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 24, 2020
The Canadian Press
