For many Calgarians in south Calgary, the wait may be over to find a family doctor.
On March 4, the South Calgary Primary Care Network (SCPCN) announced that there were 26 doctors accepting new patients at clinics across the network, with 23 of those doctors new to Calgary.
Dr. Noreen O’Riordan, Medical Director for the SCPCN, said that this was a good news story for Calgarians in amongst the doom and gloom about finding family physicians.
“We know patients have struggled to get access over the last few months and years, so it’s certainly a big win. For South Calgary, it’s been one of our goals to attract more docs to this area to support the community’s needs,” O’Riordan said.
She said that across Calgary and area there has been an increase in the number of family doctors accepting patients, with that total at 198 as of Tuesday.
As part of that increase, said Dr. O’Riordan, Calgarians are being encouraged to visit albertafindadoctor.ca as a one-stop shop to find a family doctor across any of the primary care networks.
The increase in doctors in the SCPCN came about as a result of the network over the past several years, to identify the needs of physicians and provide increased support for panels of patients at their practices.
“We’ve worked hard over the last few years to attract new docs amidst all the doom and gloom. As a primary care network here in South Calgary, what we’re offering is support for the few who wish to come to this area in setting up their practice, and supporting them in building a panel and then looking after that panel,” O’Riordan said.
“We offer supports and programs so it can help those docs manage their patients, which helps in terms of their work life balance, but also having additional healthcare team members support the doctor in managing their patients.”
She said that’s reduced the burden that doctors have felt as practicing family physicians.
Dr. O’Riordan said that there wasn’t an exact number of how many new patients in south Calgary could be accepted by the doctors, but that most would be taking on physician panels of up to 1,200. The network in total serves 276,000 patients.
The 23 new doctors represented an 8 per cent increase in the access to local care, in the 67 clinics that make up the SCPCN.
Across Calgary, according to statistics from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, there was an increase of 287 doctors at the end of 2024, versus the same time in 2023.
Provincially, there was an increase of 325 family physicians at the end of 2024, versus 2023.
O’Riordan said the outcomes for Calgarians getting a family doctor was incredibly beneficial to the health care system.
“It helps manage chronic conditions, and I suppose most importantly, it helps reduce hospital visits, which is a significant saving to the system in the long term. Also, it helps in terms of screening rates, with prevention and early detection,” she said.
