University of Alberta Edmonton, Canada 29 November 1996

Medical researchers' salaries no longer competitive, official warns

Forum held to assess effects of cuts on the city's health research capacity

Health research is a $50 million industry in Edmonton that supports up to 1,800 jobs and stimulates the overall economy, says Joel Weiner, Associate Dean (Research) with the Faculty of Medicine. Almost three-quarters of the investment comes from outside Alberta, attracted here by top-notch scientists and facilities working at a variety of locations in Edmonton.

Dr Weiner said reduced support-common across Canada-will make Edmonton less competitive when some other countries are increasing their funding dramatically. "We will be in a desperate position, and it will reflect on Alberta as well as on Canada," he said at a recent forum to consider the effects of health care funding cuts and the possibility that Edmonton is losing a research advantage.

Speakers at the forum held in the Walter C. Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre agreed that health care costs had been spiralling upward before government cuts began, and said they supported reform of the system. They also pointed, however, to some outcomes that the government and community should consider during the process of designing the system of tomorrow.

Dr Weiner listed the most immediate threats to Edmonton's research community. Those included: scientists have less time to do their work; there is an erosion of the infrastructure; salaries are less competitive; there is a "brain drain" from Alberta; and there is not enough money for young scientists to develop internationally competitive programs.

Lorne Tyrrell, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, said there was a recognition that health care costs were rising too sharply and reform was needed. He said patients, physicians and politicians all contributed to excessive spending on health. His concern now, however, is that Edmonton's carefully constructed mass of excellence in research personnel and facilities could be in jeopardy.

"A 1993 review of the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research said this was one of the most successful experiments ever seen, and Edmonton and Calgary were in the top 10 cities in the world as a result," said Dr Tyrrell. "The AHFMR has improved the quality of medical care and educational programs, and clinical care, education and research are interconnected. It takes 10 to 20 years to build an academic health centre, but it can be destroyed in only two or three."

Dr Tyrrell said he believed funding reductions had contributed to higher stress and lower morale, salaries that are uncompetitive with other universities and academic leaders who are easier targets for recruitment by institutions located elsewhere. Diagnostic and other equipment is old and in need of replacement, and the student failure rate is triple what it used to be. At a national level, Canada is second to last (after Portugal) for its support of basic research.

The Dean offered five solutions:

• Introduction of population-based funding to cover the many out-of-region clients who use health facilities in Edmonton;
• Allowing health care professionals to participate in the planning and implementation of health care reform;
• A reinvestment in infrastructure, health care and universities;
• Development of alternative funding modes for academic health centres; and,
• Ensuring Alberta participates in the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund, which allows citizens to invest retirement savings in development of promising discoveries.

Provincial Treasurer Jim Dinning said that even with the government's planned reinvestment, health care spending is not going to return to the "status quo". He advised scientists to explain to the public that research does indeed result in better health care, and to question how regional health authorities allocate their financial resources.

"When people are on waiting lists, it's hard to get them to give money for education and research", Mr Dinning said. "Some have told me that Albertans don't understand the contributions of research in terms of better treatment and in economic terms. If research is critical to the future of Alberta's health care system and to its economic future, how do we make the right choices and explain that to Alberta? If we can't convince people that our decisions are right, research will continue to take a back seat to more urgent priorities of the day".

He said in a later interview that regional health authorities are responsible for research spending as well as health care delivery, and should be advised by health care professionals if there are "useless procedures" they could eliminate rather than cut research funding. "To just say 'give us more' is a no-brainer," the Treasurer said. "I'll bet my mortgage that some things the health authorities are doing today have no impact on health outcomes."

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