Alberta ERs Add “Contract Negotiator” to List of Critical Shortages
Matt Jones says he doesn’t blame doctors for the delay of a much-touted plan to rescue Alberta’s overwhelmed emergency rooms, insisting Tuesday that “there are two sides to this,” and generously accepting accountability for at least one of them.
Speaking at an unrelated news conference in Calgary, Jones said he remains hopeful the province can still hire the emergency department triage liaison physicians he confidently promised would arrive by Feb. 1; a date now serving mainly as a historical reference point.
The pledge followed grim headlines about suffering patients and potentially preventable deaths. But while the beds remain full, the contracts remain empty.
A day earlier, Premier Danielle Smith suggested reporters “ask the Alberta Medical Association.”
AMA president Brian Wirzba responded that weeks of inter-ministry confusion and a mysteriously misplaced negotiation framework have left talks in limbo, proving that in Alberta’s ERs, even the paperwork is waiting to be triaged.
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