Alberta doctors receive $172.3M in retroactive pay under new deal
Agreement modernizes physician compensation, with some specialists seeing pay increases up to 70 per cent.
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Alberta doctors will receive $172.3 million in retroactive pay under a new agreement with the province announced Thursday, addressing what the Alberta Medical Association says has left some specialists significantly underpaid.
The deal comes after an arbitrator in February ruled that doctors should receive a three per cent salary increase in the final year of the 2022-2026 master agreement. About half the retroactive money will go to doctors paid through clinical alternative relationship plans (ARPs), which the AMA says had become outdated.
Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Brian Wirzba said some specialists, including pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists, have been "left behind" by previous payment models. "I'm hoping that we see more physicians move into those types of practices where there is care that's absolutely essential for Albertans being provided in a way that it wasn't before, because now there's a payment model that manages that," he said.
Some physicians could see pay rate increases of up to 70 per cent under the new structure, which is designed to improve continuity of care for people with complex psychiatric disorders, multiple disabilities, and geriatric patients under team-based care.
Separate from the retroactive pay, physicians and the government also reached an agreement on a framework for new clinical ARPs. Around 3,200 of the province's nearly 14,000 licensed doctors are currently paid through ARPs.
Among the outstanding questions is timing for the revival of triage liaison physician (TLP) roles in emergency rooms—ER doctors who would monitor waiting patients for signs of rapid deterioration. Wirzba said the parties must take more steps before emergency medicine specialists can work as TLPs.