Town & County of Stettler Jointly Pursue Physician Recruitment Measures

Following a joint meeting on June 20, 2024, elected officials from the County of Stettler and the Town of Stettler have informally agreed to adopt and implement urgent physician recruitment measures.

The Town and County have both held discussions with provincial and Alberta Health Services representatives about the challenges we have been facing attracting and retaining physicians to our community, which include red tape reduction and updated physician compensation models to make practicing ‘rural’ more enticing. To ensure success, we have agreed special measures are necessary.

The immediate course of action is to actively recruit General Practitioners, with special consideration for physicians whose practice will include Anesthesia and Child Delivery.

Initial initiatives are considered a crisis response to our region’s current physician shortage and will be reassessed for success on an ongoing basis. Once the community’s healthcare condition has stabilized, the region will focus on long-term planning for recruitment and retention using holistic and forward-thinking strategies built around the attractive benefits of joining our community.

Says County of Stettler Reeve Clarke:

“Health care and access to health care is crucial for the long term sustainability and independence of our region. We will continue to advocate and work through this doctor shortage crisis with our partners, and seek solutions to ensure essential care is being provided and always available to our residents and visitors.”

Adds Town of Stettler Mayor Nolls:

“We’ve been working with our partners at the County of Stettler to incentivize physicians to not only bring their skills to Stettler, but to be welcomed and become meaningful members of our community. We are all in agreement that crisis measures are needed at this time, and are committing to work together to get through this emergent shortage.”

We appreciate the support and collaborative efforts of our community's health professionals, service groups, and all interested parties as we continue to work together with our Alberta Government representatives to further address this province-wide, rural concern.