EDMONTON – In November, four doctors at Slave Lake’s family care clinic resigned on the same day, leaving many residents wondering what will happen to health care in their community.
“That would be horrendous for me because three of those doctors take care of me. I have a very rare condition,” said Angela Wright, who lives in Slave Lake, and was in and out of hospital before her diagnosis.
She believes the simultaneous resignations indicate there’s a problem, but admits very few details are known.
“We need to help our doctors,” stressed Wright.
So, Wright started a petition in the hopes of keeping the doctors in Slave Lake, and asking local government to look into the resignations.
“We just want them to get together, and if they need to have mediation, or an arbitrator or something, then let’s do it. We lost five doctors already, and now we’re going to lose four more?”
Mikky Locke signed the petition. Her long-time doctor is one of the four leaving.
“I was dumbfounded to think that something was underfoot.”
On Wednesday, Locke asked her physician why she decided to resign.
“She said ‘for now, I just am not going to talk about it.’ That wasn’t the time or the place.”
In a letter, Alberta Health Services (AHS) says it hasn’t stopped doctors from speaking about their reasons for leaving the family care clinic.
“It is simply not true that AHS has somehow prevented these four physicians from voicing concerns either internally, or within the public realm. If they wish to do that, that is their choice. If they wish to advocate for patients, we encourage them to do that.”
Residents still have concerns – and questions.
“There’s obviously a problem, but we don’t know who to ask to help fix the situation,” said Wright.
Whatever the reason, Locke is worried about the impact the loss will have on the community.
“It’s common sense: take four doctors out of a town and some people are going to suffer as a result.”
In a letter, AHS stressed the Slave Lake family care clinic is a “success story” and the resignations were “for personal reasons.”
“On November 7, four physicians that have worked for several years in the Slave Lake community voluntarily decided to resign from the Slave Lake Family Care Clinic, for personal reasons. This was unexpected for AHS,” the letter reads, “and we are working to support these physicians as well as our Slave Lake community through this transition.”
“Physicians saved primary health care in Slave Lake when they developed the family care clinic that’s there today,” said Health Minister Fred Horne.
“When I became health minister, we were down to one physician in the community. As recently as a couple of months ago, they were up to nine. As far as I understand it, physicians have been very attracted to the model that’s been offered to them in Slave Lake.”
Horne added he had not seen the petition.
“No information has been presented to me that there’s any dissatisfaction on the part of doctors in Slave Lake with what they have. They actually have a lot more to work with than many other communities in the province.”
Still, many in the community are worried about patient support.
“It’s really tough to go see a doctor,” said Cathy Lacouvee. “I, personally, am going to a nurse practitioner now because there aren’t enough doctors to go around.”
“Now that there’s four doctors gone from that clinic, I don’t know… health care is definitely an issue.”
While the town is filled with speculation about why the doctors resigned, residents are still searching for a clear answer.
“It’s all rumour,” Lacouvee said. “I mean, we don’t know exactly what’s going on. I just hope that if I need a doctor, that there’s one here when I really need to see one.”
AHS says it has made offers to four replacement doctors, and two are expected to start shortly.
“The physicians who resigned from the FCC have local options to continue to serve our Slave Lake community. They have provided excellent care to our Slave Lake community, and if they choose, can continue to provide this care at the town’s private clinic. We are aware that the owners of the private clinic have been in discussions with the four physicians, to either rent space or buy the clinic and operate it themselves.”
According to AHS, the Slave Lake family care clinic still employs three doctors, nine nurses, and seven other health care professionals.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News
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