Earlier this year, the AMA launched Report My Story, a secure text line designed to give members an on-the-spot, confidential way to share what they’re seeing in daily practice. The goal was simple: create a direct channel for physicians to speak candidly about the realities of frontline care.
Since then, we’ve received submissions across a range of settings and specialties that reveal the human cost of a system under immense strain. Here are just a few of the stories we’ve heard lately.
- A physician recalls her own experience as a patient, having to wait three months to see a specialist in breastfeeding. While able to navigate this challenge due to her knowledge as a physician and third-time mother, she worries for new mothers who do not share her medical knowledge.
- An emergency department physician at a regional hospital treated four patients seated in chairs in a room with no privacy as no beds were available. Among them were two patients suffering renal colic, another who required surgery to treat sepsis following childbirth and one experiencing first trimester cramping and bleeding. This is inhumane, he feels.
- A patient with metastatic cancer waited over eight weeks to be seen by an oncology team. This resulted in additional anguish for the patient and their family, and moral injury to the referring physician. She expressed the hopelessness physicians often feel while working in a system that impedes timely patient care.
- A psychiatrist and a family physician worry that the looming transition from AISH to the Alberta Disability Assistance Program will exacerbate health inequities. They describe the severe anxiety, fear and hopelessness that this change is already causing among vulnerable patients, many of whom already face significant mental health, chronic health and economic challenges.
These stories are not just anecdotes. They are evidence of the real-world impacts of policy decisions, resource limitations and systemic inefficiencies eroding Alberta’s health system. They underscore the urgency of our collective advocacy.
We are deeply grateful to every member who has taken the time to share their story. Your voices help the AMA paint a clearer picture of what’s happening on the ground, bolstering our work with government and system partners.
If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to save the Report My Story number (587-401-9591) to your contacts for quick access. Whether it’s a brief text message or a more detailed account of a frontline experience, your insights matter.
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