Doctor shortage in Lethbridge, Alta., continues to impact residents as province looks for answers

A shortage of family doctors in Lethbridge, Alta., will stretch into 2022 — and residents say that's placing significant pressure on them as the months drag on and as health problems persist.

As of Wednesday, online listings hosted on the Chinook Primary Care Network website indicate that no family doctors are accepting new patients in the community of more than 100,000.

When health issues have arisen in recent months, Lethbridge residents have been forced to the emergency room and to out-of-town clinics.

Resident Erica Dahlem said her husband found himself in excruciating pain due to back issues one day.

"He had to go to the ER to get a note that said, 'Yes, your back hurts,'" she said.

Both Dahlem and her husband are on long-term medications and need prescriptions to be refilled. They've had to co-ordinate with doctors more than 300 kilometres away, in Canmore, Alta., where they used to live, to make that happen.

"It's super stressful. There's no doctors, there's no walk-in clinics [in Lethbridge]," she said. "There's no place to go but the ER. And I object to that from the point that it's a misuse of the resource."

A spokesperson with the provincial government said Alberta Health Services (AHS) is interviewing nine new family physicians for positions that it sponsors in Lethbridge.

"We're hopeful that we'll see new physicians in Lethbridge soon," Steve Buick said in an email.

Lethbridge has seen multiple physicians retire recently, and others have left the community to practise elsewhere. Meanwhile, new doctors aren't available to take their place, said a clinic manager in the city.

Nathan Neudorf, the MLA for Lethbridge-East and chair of the United Conservative Party caucus in Alberta, said he's heard that two of the nine doctors being interviewed have signed contracts.

"This won't be a complete solution, but it's definitely a step in the right direction," he said.

Neudorf said he's heard that anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 Lethbridge residents don't have a family doctor.

In early December, the primary care network said that based on its calculations, more than 43,000 residents living in Lethbridge and surrounding communities did not have a family doctor in October.