Six Calgary orthopods on verge of going private

CALGARY - Half a dozen Calgary orthopedic surgeons are considering quitting medicare and going private because of deteriorating conditions for doctors in the province, they said.

And Dr. Bill Anderson, president of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), warned if current fee talks with the government go badly, "I think you'll see large numbers opt out."

But Health Minister Halvar Jonson replied that any doctor who goes private will be out in the cold as far as working in public hospitals is concerned. "Our resources, our efforts are to support physicians and hospitals in the public health-care system," he said in an interview.

But the six Calgray surgeons said in a letter to...