Dr. Paul Parks hopes to work directly with the provincial government on major health-care issues as the new president of the Alberta Medical Association.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant
Medicine Hat emergency room doctor Paul Parks has taken over as president of the Alberta Medical Association as the province begins attempts to improve operations at Alberta Health Services as well as wrestle with a shortage of family physicians.
Parks was vocal during his AMA position as the representative for emergency practitioners and said his first priority is to connect with members, and build a strong working relationship with the government.
“They’re the ones in government making decisions, and I want to work directly with them so we get it right,” Parks told the News, stating doctor and staffing shortages are a strain for patients and the existing system.
“The two biggest priorities by far right now is family medicine – access to family medicine – we really have to get the government to act, really, on changing the funding model and investing in family medicine, to have very robust (care) and get every Albertan access to family specialists if they want one.
“That’s massive, and we have to address acute care, department overcrowding, and it’s going to be a rough fall and winter.”
Parks becomes president after serving one year as president elect, and takes over the top post from another Hat-based family doctor, Fredrykka Rinaldi.
She becomes past-president on the AMA board – a fact that Premier Danielle Smith pointed to during an event with local business leaders here on Thursday.
“Medicine Hat will be well represented in those discussions,” she joked, noting Parks’s new position.
Some of that was outlined this week as Health Minister Adriana LaGrange detailed the results of work to Modernize Alberta’s Primary Care System, known as the MAPS report.
It contains 11 recommendations and will initially provide $57 million to increase the number of patients practices can see.
MAPS discussions will also revolve around allowing doctors to spend more time with each patient, and the initial suggestion is allowing nurse practitioners to complete more routine interactions. More highly integrated practices with multiple specialists in the mix would ease referrals, it suggests.
Doctors need to have input into home that is structured, and will advocate for proper compensation and funding model, said Parks.
As well, AMA members want input into any AHS makeover.
“We’ve said with any changes to AHS, don’t through the baby out with the bath water,” said Parks. “Keep the good stuff and let us have input. Maybe we do need to improve local decision making, but you don’t have to blow up the whole system to do that.”
AHS is currently being managed by an administrator after Smith relieved the entire board in November, 2022.
She was asked about the MAPS report and AHS restructuring in Medicine Hat this week in response to an audience question about health-care operations in rural regions. Smith said administrative review and decentralizing some decision making from the AHS central board will improve efficiency, morale and working conditions in rural hospitals.
Parks will spend the next month taking part in town halls with members of the AMA to gather input and set priorities for the group as the province prepares to move on several fronts of the health portfolio.
At the same time, he expects operational conditions to worsen.
Parks says colder months, in general, are busier times for hospital operations and numbers of patients. But, there is also growing concern that the number of flu and COVID cases will increase steeply in the months ahead, leading to a repeat of capacity issues seen last year.
“Hospitals are just always over capacity now,” he said. “We have a workforce shortage – both in emergency and on the floors. Aggravating that are respiratory issues. COVID is back, there’s influenza, a bunch of respiratory illnesses. That’s a massive strain on our acute care system.”
