Costs forcing walk-in clinics and family practices in Alberta to close

Several Medicentres walk-in clinics and family practices have closed or are about to in Edmonton and Calgary because doctors say they aren’t able to afford the rent.

Family practice Gateway Medical Clinic on Calgary Trail and 38th Avenue in south Edmonton is closing in May — affecting more than 7,000 patients, including Jean Mill.

“They can’t afford the rent on the building with the remaining doctors and they can’t get doctors to take over for the two people that are retiring,” Mill said.

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Mill’s doctor connected her with a new one, but she worries for other seniors who have bigger health issues.

“I’ve had to go to emergency and they can’t take anymore,” Mill said.

“I never thought I would ever be in this situation in a province as wealthy as Alberta.”

Family practices in Alberta operate as small businesses, with the physicians charging the province based on pre-determined fees.

Medicentres at Riverbend Square in southwest Edmonton and Castle Downs in the northwest have already closed.

In a letter sent to patients at the north side clinic, it said, “the reimbursement from the Alberta Government isn’t enough to cover the costs of operating a clinic.”

The general manager of Medicentres Canada, Wayne Samuels, said the closures are concerning.

“There’s not enough family doctors in order to meet the demand of Albertans, and then on top of that, cost have been rising much faster than reimbursement has,” Samuels said.

“Should people be concerned? Absolutely. We are very concerned, we are closing clinics — we don’t want to do it.”

Samuels does see hope on the horizon. He said recent funding and a new model coming soon by the Alberta Government is helping.

“The government announced a one-time funding payment — a transitional funding program which provided a payment to physicians to stabilize clinics and cover the fact that costs are rising faster than reimbursement,” Samuels said.

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In a statement to Global News, Alberta Health said:

“The new compensation model will support family physicians in providing comprehensive patient care where they develop long-term relationships with their patients and ensure health care needs are met through all phases of a patient’s life. It will also incentivize family physicians to provide care for more patients – so more Albertans have a primary care provider.”

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