Handle with Care - How will we fix what’s ailing our health care system?

Sep 30, 2026

Handle with Care outlines Albertans’ concerns and key question prompts to improve Alberta’s health care system. It addresses escalating access challenges to primary care, physician and health professional shortages, and the need to support family medicine practices. The document also focuses on seniors needing adequate continuing and home care, Indigenous health equity and culturally safe services, pediatric mental health needs after pandemic disruptions, and the crisis of drug poisoning deaths requiring harm reduction and effective, safe treatment approaches. It emphasizes monitoring survey data and removing barriers to practice and provider protection.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

KEY QUESTIONS

Primary care and physician shortages

Continuing care and seniors

Indigenous health equity and racism

Pediatric mental health

Drug poisoning deaths and harm reduction

How will we fix what’s ailing our health care system? Alberta’s physicians look forward to working with government, Alberta Health Services and other system partners to make much-needed improvements to our health care system. Help us understand how the health care system is serving you. If you are waiting for a family physician, a procedure or test, please [visit](visit PatientsFirst.ca)[ ](visit PatientsFirst.ca)[PatientsFirst.ca](visit PatientsFirst.ca) and complete our short survey to tell us about your experience. Monitoring this data helps us identify priorities for improvement. Challenges in accessing primary care have escalated over the past three years. Hundreds of thousands of Albertans do not have a family physician. Without access to primary care, chronic conditions worsen and new concerns may not be caught until they are more difficult – or even impossible – to treat. KEY QUESTIONS • Albertans want access to a family doctor who is connected to a team. How will your party ensure every Albertan has a medical home? • How will your party work to encourage medical students and residents to choose comprehensive family medicine in Alberta? • How will your party financially stabilize and sustain the independent, small-business family practice offices that deliver the majority of primary care, including recognizing the increasing administrative requirements that are burdening them? We are in an unprecedented time when pre-existing demographic changes causing a reduced workforce have been worsened everywhere by the pandemic, accompanied by fatigue and burnout. The shortage of physicians, nurses and other health professionals is the number one challenge facing our health care system. With ongoing shortages, we will continue to struggle to deliver the care Albertans need, when and where they need it. KEY QUESTIONS • What strategies will your government employ to make Alberta an attractive place for physiciansand medical learners to come and stay? • How will your government identify and remove impediments to practice in Alberta for medical learners and practicing physicians? • To help re-establish safe, respectful working environments for health care workers, will your government commit to upholding federal legislation (Bill C-3) to protect our providers in Alberta? ISSUE A recent Auditor General report noted that Alberta’s continuing care facilities were insufficiently prepared for the pandemic, including outdated infrastructure and staff shortages. Seniors living in the community continue to struggle to access essential primary and home care. We need to do all we can to support seniors. We know the best scenario is to appropriately equip seniors to stay in their homes and communities as long as they can. Creating supports for family caregivers is essential and must be part of the solution. KEY QUESTIONS • How will your government ensure Alberta’s seniors receive the care they need, when they need it, in their own communities so that they can choose to remain at home? • How will your government support family caregivers to better sustain the care they provide, and to maintain their own health and well being? • What will your government do to ensure Alberta’s seniors are better cared for in any future public health emergency? ISSUE First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Alberta have higher rates of chronic illness, mental health challenges and addictions due to the impacts of colonization and ongoing health inequities. They live shorter lives, continue to experience racism and culturally unsafe care in our health care system and are disproportionately impacted by the opioid poisoning crisis. KEY QUESTIONS • How will your party improve health equity for Indigenous peoples in Alberta? • How will your party ensure Indigenous peoples receive the care they need, when they need it, in their own communities? • How will your government address racism and discrimination in our health car

FAQs

How can Alberta improve access to primary care for every Albertan?

The document emphasizes connecting family doctors to teams and ensuring a “medical home” for all Albertans, along with encouraging comprehensive family medicine and stabilizing independent small-business practice offices.

What issues affect seniors’ ability to receive care in Alberta?

It highlights insufficiently prepared continuing care facilities, outdated infrastructure, staff shortages, and ongoing difficulty accessing essential primary and home care, with a focus on supporting seniors to remain in their homes and communities.

What strategies are proposed for Alberta’s pediatric mental health crisis after the pandemic?

It calls for addressing the pediatric mental health crisis so children and youth can receive needed care in schools/communities and the health care system, and for supporting parents and families to guide children through their mental health care journeys.

Sep 30, 2026

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