Demand for family doctors soars as availability declines
The demand for family doctors in the Calgary area and provincewide is soaring, with the albertafindadoctor.ca website reporting huge increases in visits over the past year as the number of physicians taking patients continues to decline.
The popular PCN online search tool, which aims to help patients find a family doctor, saw visits more than double from April 2021 to March 2022, compared to the previous year. A total of 716,163 visits during that period represented a 108% increase on 2020-21, while the number of users increased 124% to 490,764. Visits increased by more than 100% in the south, Calgary and central zones, while increasing by 92% in the Edmonton area and 69% in the north.
At the same time, the number of doctors taking new patients fell provincewide from 731 in April 2021 to 390 today. Read the report.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of having a trusted health care provider and we are pleased that the Alberta Find a Doctor website has become such an important tool for Albertans. At the same time, we recognize that it is becoming harder to find a family doctor and availability is limited in some areas."
“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of having a trusted health care provider and we are pleased that the Alberta Find a Doctor website has become such an important tool for Albertans,” said Dr. Ernst Greyvenstein, Primary Care Network Physician Lead for the Calgary Zone.
“At the same time, we recognize that it is becoming harder to find a family doctor and availability is limited in some areas. While many organizations are working together on the challenging issue of physician recruitment, Nurse Practitioners are being added to the website as another potential option for those in need of care.”
The self-search tool available on albertafindadoctor.ca asks visitors to enter a location and specify language or gender preference. Search results show both family doctors and Nurse Practitioners who are accepting new patients in that area. The website also lists clinic addresses, contact details whether COVID-19 vaccinations are offered in-clinic. The website also lists free PCN workshops.