AUPE VP, Sandra Azocar, speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about Alberta’s continuing care system.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: The provincial government is prepared to offer medical students and family medicine residents bursaries of up to $200,000. In return, new doctors must work in rural communities for three years after graduating. How far do you expect that to go to improving health care in rural Alberta?
Sandra Azocar: You have to admit that it’s a good first step in terms of making sure that we have enough doctors that are willing to work and that are committed to work in rural Alberta, however, it’s a long-term plan. A doctor doesn’t just happen overnight.
What we’re looking at is more of a bigger plan in terms of dealing with the chaos that is happening in rural Alberta. As a vice president, I get to travel all across the northwest and I see, all the time, the …