Nurse practitioner program expanding primary care access in Alberta: province

The Province of Alberta says its new nurse practitioner program is giving thousands of Albertans access to the primary care they need.

Announced in April by the province and the Nurse Practitioner Association of Alberta, the new compensation model for nurse practitioners vowed to pay them 80 per cent of what family doctors are paid, if they decide to practice comprehensive care.

To be eligible for that compensation, nurse practitioners need to meet several requirements, including committing to providing medically necessary primary care services, having a panel size of at least 900 patients, providing after-hours access on weekends, evenings or holidays, and accepting walk-in appointments as they build their panel up to 900.

Since the new program was announced, the province said 67 applications have been submitted and of those, 56 have been approved.

Now, 33 nurse practitioners are practicing independently across Alberta, which the province says gives 30,000 people access to the primary care they need. Once the other 23 applicants start practicing, the province says 21,000 more Albertans will have access to primary care.

As many as 800,000 Albertans are estimated to be without a family doctor. The province has said enhancing the capabilities of nurse practitioners is aimed at supporting those patients.