An Anonymous but TRUE tale of Alberta healthcare:

Starring: FYI Doctors (Optometry and laser surgery)

This is reality. This happened here. I am watching the same events unfold in healthcare again, as physicians are being attacked by govt with one hand ...

... while the same govt embraces corporations with the other. The public needs to know the path the Alberta govt is leading our healthcare system.

Like many ventures before them, FYI Doctors entered the scene with engaging speeches and enticing promises...

...They promised to buy 51% of doctors’ offices. They promised to provide human resources & salaries would be unchanged. They promised to allow 50% say in selected suppliers. However, once contracts were signed, bleak reality was starkly different from the rosy pictures painted.

...After completing the transition from independent practitioner to FYI employee, optometrist pay was immediately reduced by 30% to improve the bottom line. Office staff were forced to accept the new, lower, pay structure or be dismissed...

After 1 yr, FYI “re-examined” suppliers, resulting in over 80% of supplies solely from FYI approved companies, due in large part to a contract stating FYI corporate gained an annual bonus if FYI suppliers volumes increased:

...such financial gains were, of course, retained by those above the mere optometrist partners and their staff.

Of course optometrists are free to leave FYI Doctors, but with one small caveat: an FYI Doctor can leave only if they sell their shares to another doctor coming in.

...Sale prices are set by FYI, preventing disgruntled employees from selling a cheaper contract to facilitate transition. If a contract is ever sold, the exiting optometrist is bound by a gag order preventing negative press about FYI Doctors.

This is the door that Bill 30 opens. For Equity & Telus to enter & commoditize medical care in the same way FYI Doctors commoditized the local optometrist. Corporate healthcare exists only to provide profit to the shareholder and company, never for the benefit of the patient.

Do Albertans truly believe that profit-driven medicine provides the best care for their families? #HealthCareNotWealthCare #PatientsNotProfit