Canada’s health ministers meet in Calgary to discuss funding agreements, workforce
Federal, provincial and territorial health ministers are in Calgary for two days of meetings to discuss interprovincial credential recognition and funding agreements.
The office of federal Health Minister Marjorie Mitchell said she was also ready to discuss mental health and addiction issues and vaccination programs.
“The health ministers’ meeting will build on new collaboration between the federal government and the provinces and territories to protect Canada’s health-care system,” Mitchell’s office said in a statement.
Adriana LaGrange, Alberta’s minister of primary and preventive health services, is set to co-chair the meetings with Mitchell. LaGrange is scheduled to hold a news conference with her counterparts Thursday afternoon.
In a statement, LaGrange’s office said she is seeking federal commitments to existing health funding programs and strategies to address health care worker shortages.
It said she is also expecting a promise from Ottawa to give Alberta its “fair share” of funding for provincial pharmacare, without the province signing off on a national program.
Three provinces and one territory have signed up to the program, which provides coverage for contraceptives and diabetes medication.
LaGrange has said he believes Alberta’s existing coverage plans are adequate and that the province would like Ottawa to use the funding to boost the provincial program.
While in Calgary, the minister is also scheduled to meet with national doctors and nurses organizations, who are calling for collaboration at both levels of government on new ways to support and retain health care workers.
Abuse, jealousy is a concern
Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said she will pressure ministers to take action on on-the-job abuse of nurses.
“We really need to get a commitment from health ministers that we will work on changing the culture in health care,” Silas said in an interview.
“It’s simple: ministers need to instruct their health employers that if a nurse or health care worker is killed, the patient (or) family member will be charged.”
Silas said his organization has been demanding change for decades.
“It’s almost embarrassing,” she said. “We know as a society that you would never assault a police officer, because automatically you will be charged. We don’t have that attitude in health care.”
The Canadian Medical Association, which represents physicians across the country, released survey data this week showing that doctors are also grappling with abuse at the hands of patients or their family members.
The survey was completed earlier this year by approximately 3,300 physicians, medical residents and fellows. Preliminary results show 74 percent have experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination at work, down from 78 percent in 2021.
Dr. Margot Burnell, the association’s president, said in a statement that more work still needs to be done to ensure that doctors can “succeed in a health system that delivers care to patients while supporting providers.”
About 46 percent of respondents also reported “high levels” of burnout, down from 53 percent four years ago.
Burnell said the survey suggests meaningful improvements in some areas, but doctors “still feel the heavy burden of an overstretched health care system.”
