By Alex McCuaig

Virtual Care

Family physician care moving to a virtual platform

Mar 23, 2020 | 3:50 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – With walk-in clinics drastically scaling back their operations across southeastern Alberta for in-person visits, area doctors will now be moving online to deal with the bulk of assessments.

Health Minister Tyler Shandro, with the backing of Dr. Christine Molnar, Alberta Medical Association (AMA) president, announced the move on Monday. The announcement also comes in the wake criticisms from Molnar and the AMA regarding the app launched by the province last week for virtual doctor assessments.

Medicine Hat’s Dr. Bill Ruzycki says family physicians and walk-in clinics are simply not equipped with adequate protective equipment such as masks, gowns and face shields nor the ability to sanitize their offices to ensure the safety of medical staff and patients.

“We have to modify our practices to distance ourselves where possible, to work in a virtual situation. And a lot of the doctors are looking very hard into that right now,” said Ruzycki.

Asked when he thought things might get back to some semblance of normality when it comes to patient care, he said he didn’t think that would come anytime soon.

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But when it comes to being able to see patients in-person in one form or another, “one to four weeks if they don’t lock us all down,” adding that there will need to be a number of safety protocols put in place.