Alberta rural doctors closed their offices June 8 in a protest to raise awareness that they’re overworked and underpaid.
The main complaint is the poor pay for being on call, said Dr. Peter Lindsay, president of the Alberta Medical Association’s section of rural medicine.
The doctors want $500 for being on call in a 24-hour period, not the $144 they were allotted in a recent AMA contract.
“There has to be enough money to be on call to have someone to do it,” said Lindsay, who practises in the northeastern Alberta community of Lac La Biche.
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Heavy load
He said it is stressful working all day in the office, being on call in the evening and then going back to the office the next day.
“It just wears you down. Your wife is angry and your kids don’t know your name.”
By increasing the amount of money for being on call, doctors are hoping to attract more doctors to rural areas to share the on-call duties. A recent recruitment drive attracted 62 doctors to rural areas, but they will soon leave for the city if they’re overworked, he said.
Doctors in 50-60 rural communities joined the one-day protest.
