Alberta announces action plan for rural health

The province says it is launching a rural health action plan to improve health care in rural and remote communities.

As part of the plan, the province is launching a $16 million Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Scholarship Pilot Program, which will support family medicine residents who want to practice in rural or remote areas. Alberta.

The scholarship will provide up to $8 million annually for the next two years.

Scholarships of up to $125,000 for rural applicants or $200,000 for remote applicants will be offered to medical students in their final year of an undergraduate medical program at any medical university, who were matched to a family medicine residency program at the University of Alberta or University. from Calgary.

In exchange for this funding, students will commit to providing patient care in eligible communities for three years after completing their residency.

Applications for 2024-2025 will open in December.

An $800,000 grant for medical first responders (MFR) and $600,000 for emergency medical responders (EMR) was also announced.

The grants are designed to attract and retain paramedics in rural, remote, First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities in Alberta.

“It will also support efforts to address long emergency response times by funding the establishment of new medical first responder programs in communities with limited access to health care services,” said the province in a press release Thursday.

In addition to funding new agencies, grants will support communities with existing MFR agencies, such as fire departments and other community volunteer groups.

The province says the rural health care action plan will be reviewed and updated every three years.