Dear Editor,
Rural Alberta overwhelmingly supported the UCP in our last election. Now those same rural folk may be the only hope to save your local emergency department and local specialized health services currently being provided by our teams of rural doctors.
Here in Rimbey we are facing the loss of one third of our local physicians this summer, which will make it very unlikely that current levels of service can be provided. Two Canadian trained doctors with additional special skills have decided to leave Rimbey and this province after the insulting and probably illegal behaviour of our government that has disproportionately penalized rural doctors. The calibre of these physicians is just what I and my colleagues sought for so many years in order to assemble an excellent medical team. These two doctors will be welcomed in many rural communities throughout the world, and will be joining an alarming exodus of other rural physicians from Alberta.
So rural Albertans, if you voted for this government, but did not vote to have your local emergency services disappear, please contact your local MLA, your Premier, and your Minister of Health and demand a halt to cuts to rural medicine. As a significant voting block, you may be the answer to this crisis.
Sincerely,
Dr. Mike Boorman
( For those who don’t know me, I returned to work in Rimbey from 1978 to 2016, and retired here feeling confident that our local medical service was in competent hands.)