16-year study suggests improvements to Alberta’s primary care, doctor retention

A new study from the University of Calgary looks at the challenges facing Alberta's family physicians.

Lisa Ransome-Williams has a complex medical history.

While she appreciates her providers for the quality of care offered, she says the waiting on referrals, diagnostics and surgical dates can be painful.

“The reason I would go to a hospital over going to a GP (general practitioner) is not because she’s not great. But you know you are going to wait, and then she’s going to give you a requisition to get an MRI, and then you have got to wait for that,” she said.

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A University of Calgary study says as Alberta family doctors deal with sicker, more complicated patients, the province needs to increase supports for physicians and expand primary care networks.

While provincial officials say work is underway, some Calgarians say the government’s plan needs more urgency.

Ransome-Williams says the state of health care in Alberta isn’t working for patients or doctors, as many people avoid seeing their family doctor until problems pile up.

“That’s the system, unfortunately; it’s (like a) conveyer belt. It’s in and out.”

The study from the Cumming School of Medicine, as published in the Annals of Family Medicine, looks at challenges faced between 2004 and 2020.

In that time, it found Alberta struggled to retain primary care doctors while the population increased, baby boomers aged and the caseload for doctors climbed.

It found the number of patients with five or more health conditions has doubled, increasing complexity.

“Maybe it’s not just about ‘Have we got enough family doctors?’ but ‘Have we got enough family doctors relative to the need Albertans have?’” said Dr. Braden Manns, senior associate dean for health research at the University of Calgary, and lead investigator.

Manns suggests primary care networks that group allied health professionals under one roof would improve working conditions for doctors and improve patient care.

Nurses, dietitians, physios, mental-health professionals and diagnostics all working together, for example.

“We need to bolster the team with more of those types of services to meet the needs of Albertans,” Manns said.

He says the province should use the results of this study to improve its workforce planning and account for the changing needs of primary care doctors.

The past president of the Alberta Medical Association says the province has already implemented changes to improve primary care, with the new compensation model to pay for time-consuming tasks like charting.

“It’s been hard to recruit in Alberta. We’re turning that around with the new funding model, so that’s going to help. But it doesn’t help that we have hundreds of thousands of new people coming into our province who need family docs,” said Dr. Paul Parks.

The province responded to CTV News via email, affirming Parks’ mention of the new Primary Care Physician Compensation Model.

The Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services added more details about recruitment into family medicine.

“As of June 30, 2025, 12,327 physicians were registered in Alberta—a net gain of 571 from the same period in 2024, the largest single-year increase on record. This includes 6,055 family physicians, an increase of 355 from the same period last year, with growth seen across all zones in the province,” the ministry said.

“In Alberta, Primary Care Networks are the main model for team-based care, where groups of family physicians collaborate with nurses, pharmacists, dietitians and other health professionals to provide comprehensive, local primary care.”

It continued, “These multidisciplinary teams significantly improve access to primary care by ensuring a range of health services are available locally. In July, 29 clinics across the province received support in the first round of funding. Approximately 52 new full-time health professionals are expected to be hired, with a second intake for the grant program opening soon.”