For the first time in Alberta’s history, we now have over 11,000 doctors registered to work here.

This puts to shame the lie, backed by nothing more than disinformation from the NDP and thin reporting, that doctors are leaving the province. 1/8 https://twitter.com/edmontonjournal/status/1316735434303696901

In the real world, Alberta remains an amazing place to live and to practise medicine. Our doctors are the highest-paid and live in the lowest-taxed province in Canada. Doctors from across Canada, and indeed the world, want to live and work here. 2/8

The @CPSA_CA, the independent body which regulates doctors, released their third-quarter report on how many doctors are registered to work here.

It shows a net gain of 246 doctors or a 2.3% increase over the last year. 3/8

Broken down by gender, Alberta gained 173 female doctors and 73 male doctors. This is consistent with the CPSA’s five-year history of registration statistics, which shows a steady increase of doctors practising in the province. 4/8

9 doctors returned to Alberta, 142 are newly-licensed trainees & 139 are new to Alberta but trained elsewhere.

An important note, those no longer working in Alberta:
4 gave up their licence
5 were suspended
3 passed away
22 retired

The number who left: 13.
5/8

The @CPSA_CA's Q3 report is a snapshot in time and should be taken with a grain of salt. Taking a hard look at the information and comparing it to trends seen in previous years shows no striking changes. 6/8

This gives patients in Alberta a glimpse of what we know to be true, but critics ignore: hundreds of physicians come and go every year for different reasons, all of them perfectly understandable. 7/8

Talking about doctor's pay isn’t easy, but it’s necessary.

We pay our doctors over $5 billion–10% of the provincial budget. We can debate, and it can be noisy. But scaring patients by falsely claiming that doctors are leaving is a line that nobody should be willing to cross. 8/8