Number of physicians on the rise in Alberta
Posted February 7, 2019 12:26 pm.
Last Updated February 7, 2019 12:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — For the 11th straight year, the number of doctors in Canada rose, and Alberta saw the most significant increase across the country.
“Alberta has 10,680 physicians working in the province in 2017. That’s an increase of 3.7 per cent from the previous year,” said Vicki Scott, Program Lead in the Physician Information Department with the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
The report from CIHI shows that from 2013 to 2017, the number of doctors in Alberta rose by 11 per cent, the largest among all jurisdictions.
There are more #doctors than ever in Canada. Read our report to see how many are in your area. #SoMeDocs #medtwitter https://t.co/t4Itu8vrhN pic.twitter.com/fC8ccQdFlZ
— CIHI_ICIS (@CIHI_ICIS) February 7, 2019
“They have 247 physicians per 100,000 people in the province. Compared to Canada, that’s a little bit higher. The Canadian average is 234 physicians per 100,000 population.”
This increase in physicians outpaces the growth of the population — 11.5 per cent compared to 4.6 per cent.
The amount of physicians specializing in family practice is up as well.
The report also indicated that gross clinical payments rose 2.8 per cent, to $26.4 billion, in Canada.
CIHI hopes this report can assist provinces with health system planning, to help balance the number of physicians with the payments needed.
You can read the full report here.
