Canada's health ministers meeting in Calgary to discuss funding, workforce

Federal, provincial and territorial health ministers are in Calgary for two days of meetings, with interprovincial credential recognition and funding agreements up for discussion.

The office of federal Health Minister Marjorie Michel said she's also hoping to discuss mental health and addiction issues and vaccination programs.

"The health ministers’ meeting will build on the renewed collaboration between the federal government, and provinces and territories to protect Canada’s health-care system," Michel's office said in a statement.

Adriana LaGrange, Alberta's minister of primary and preventative health services, is set to co-chair the meetings with Michel. LaGrange was set to hold a news conference with her counterparts Thursday afternoon. 

In a statement, LaGrange's office said she's looking for federal commitments to existing health funding programs and strategies to address health-care worker shortages.

It said she's also looking for a promise from Ottawa to give Alberta its "fair share" of funding for provincial pharmacare, without the province signing on to the national program.

Three provinces and one territory have so far have signed onto the program, which provides coverage for contraceptives and diabetes medication.

LaGrange has said she believes Alberta's existing coverage plans are sufficient and that the province would like to see Ottawa use the funding to boost the provincial program instead.

While in Calgary, the ministers are also set to meet with national doctors and nurses organizations, which are calling for co-operation at both levels of government for new ways to support and retain health workers.

Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said she'll be pushing the ministers to take action on abuse nurses are subject to on the job.

"We really need to get a commitment from the health ministers that we will work on changing the culture in health care," Silas said in an interview.

"It's simple: ministers need to direct their health employers that if a nurse or a health-care worker gets hit, the patient (or) the family member will get charged."

Silas said her organization has been calling for the 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'd 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 suggesting doctors are also struggling with mistreatment at the hands of patients or their family members.

The survey was completed by about 3,300 physicians, medical residents and fellows earlier this year. Preliminary results suggest 74 per cent experienced bullying, harassment or discrimination on the job, down from 78 per cent in 2021.

Association president Dr. Margot Burnell said in a statement that more work is still needed to ensure doctors can "thrive in a health system that provides care to patients while supporting providers.”

About 46 per cent of respondents also reported "high levels" of burnout, a drop from 53 per cent four years ago.

Burnell said while the survey suggests meaningful improvements in some areas, doctors "still feel the heavy burden of an overstretched health-care system."

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld