Primary Care Providers

In 2022-23, nearly 5,000 emergency room visits in the North Zone were for minor conditions requiring no hospitalization. This represents a major strain on local emergency services and staff – because, with an alarming lack of family doctors and other primary care providers in the region, residents have no other options. Your Foundation wants to help fix this.

An Investment in Your Future

Primary care providers – general physicians and family doctors – can diagnose and treat minor conditions as well as identify more serious ones. As of last year, the North Zone had 284 of them, serving a population of approximately 480,000 – meaning each one must serve over 1,600 people.

The first step in alleviating this shortage is recruiting and retaining more of these primary care providers, immediately reducing wait times and pressure from acute care. This single change will make a huge impact on healthcare across the region, and it does not take anything more than your ongoing support.

Bringing in More Physicians

Over the next five years, your Foundation will be exploring two key methods of attracting and retaining more medical talent for northern Alberta.

To fully establish these programs, we estimate your Foundation will need $5M for scholarships and $2M for research by 2029. However, to start laying the groundwork and create a feasible path forward, we are currently seeking part of that – an initial $2M that will go a long way in implementing real, long-lasting change.

Scholarships

Medical students can get up to $10,000 per year toward their tuition on the condition that, upon graduation, they work in the North Zone for a predetermined period of time.

Clinical Research Trials

Via more support and funding for individual research projects, the North Zone will become an attractive place for ambitious physicians to conduct their cutting-edge clinical research trials. We envision this region as a place where these doctors can build their career and reputation while working in primary care.

We Cannot Afford to Wait

It is ambitious – but if we all donate, we all benefit.