Alberta considers membership-based clinic model as doctor shortage deepens

Alberta continues to face a critical shortage of primary care, with hundreds of thousands of people in need of a doctor. While the provincial government is rolling out a dual practice model allowing some physicians to work in both public and private systems, that plan doesn't apply to family doctors. Two Edmonton physicians are taking matters into their own hands, launching a membership-based medical clinic to fill the gap. The model charges patients a membership fee to access family doctor services—a novel approach in Alberta that sits outside the public system but aims to meet the growing need for care. The clinic represents a private-sector response to a public-health problem. While some eligible doctors in Alberta can work in both public and private systems starting this fall, family physicians remain excluded from that framework. The initiative reflects the scale of the crisis: hundreds of thousands of Albertans are without a family doctor and unable to access primary care through traditional channels. Whether membership-based clinics can serve as a meaningful solution to the shortage remains unclear, but the growing willingness of physicians to explore alternative models signals the urgency of the situation.