Alberta says emergency physician program is ready after eight-month wait

The province says emergency departments can begin filling shifts for a new triage liaison physician program within weeks. The Alberta Medical Association’s president says contract delays included payment and legal issues, while the number of doctors willing to take the roles remains uncertain.

CTV News Edmonton has reported:

Alberta says a program intended to ease pressure on emergency rooms is ready to move forward after eight months of contract negotiations. Acute Care Alberta said Thursday that health service delivery organizations will invite emergency medicine physicians to join the program and fill triage liaison physician shifts in emergency departments across the province. The agency expects the program to be operating within weeks.

The positions, known as TLPs, are intended to work alongside nurses to speed up assessments, support diagnostic work and start care in waiting rooms. As of mid-October, no TLPs were listed as working in Alberta. The province’s announcement signals that recruitment can begin, though it does not confirm how many physicians will take part.

The program was promised last January by Matt Jones, then minister for hospital and surgical health services. His announcement followed the December death of 44-year-old Prashanth Sreekumar, who waited hours for treatment at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns emergency room. Jones said the positions would be added “immediately at the busiest emergency departments in Calgary and Edmonton,” with TLPs expected to begin work by Feb. 1.

Heidi Fell, the new president of the Alberta Medical Association, said the delay was partly caused by work on the contracts’ logistics, including a new payment structure and legal reviews. She described uncertainty around a new position in areas not designed for care and said physicians need to understand their medical legal risk and how the role would work.

“Once we get the contract done, we will present it to physicians, and then we’ll see what happens from there,” Fell told CTV News Edmonton. “We are not totally sure if we’re going to have the people, or the desire from emergency doctors to fill these roles.”

Paul Parks, an Alberta emergency room doctor and former AMA president, said he did not believe the program had been a provincial priority. He said emergency departments across Alberta had “never seen this kind of chaos, (or), putting it bluntly, suffering,” and argued that the delays left emergency rooms in crisis.

Parks also said it was unclear who should be held responsible for the delay. The province has four new health-related ministers and pillars responsible for continuing care, hospital care, mental health and addiction, and primary health. CTV News Edmonton requested an interview with the Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services, which referred the request to Acute Care Alberta. The report included files from CTV News Edmonton’s Chelan Skulski.