Housing/transport

[Guest konverse]

greetings y'all

konverse here.

i have a 2BR condo that will be available for rent, likely starting August/September 2006. it comes fully furnished, and is located near 17th ave and 5th street. it would be perfect for two students who want to share.

 

for more details and pics surf on to:

www.rentalmonster.ca/list...o-17th-ave

let me know if interested!

[Guest cpltanto]

What is the area/community called that is right around the foothills hospital? ie: closest walking distance from school?

[Guest Win2002]

St Michael's Heights and University Heights are both minutes away (walking) from the school.

 

Parkdale, Montgomery are also both pretty close (looking at 20 minutes walk)

[Guest MDintraining]

Here is an interesting article on how the renting costs in Calgary are affecting family doctors: Not encouraging for those of us seeking new accommodations in Calgary who aren't even doctors yet!

 

Calgary's oil boom may cost city family physicians

Too expensive to run office, some say

 

Michelle Lang, CanWest News Service

Published: Tuesday, May 23, 2006

 

CALGARY - Some family physicians say it is becoming so expensive to operate a doctor's office in oil-rich Calgary that they are considering closing their practices or retiring early.

 

The doctors -- who are already in short supply -- say their expenses have ballooned by at least one-third in recent years, with soaring rent, energy bills and staff salary costs that have far outpaced their own income increases.

 

"When I look at my office overhead, I'm going to have to close my office within five years if this keeps up," said Dr. John Fernandes, noting there is more lucrative work for physicians in other areas of medicine.

 

"I love my job, I just don't know if I can afford to do it," Dr. Fernandes said.

 

A second physician says he may retire several years early after his landlord moved to increase his office rent by $4,000 annually when his lease came up for renewal.

 

The possibility of doctors closing their offices comes as the booming city faces a shortage of family physicians. The Calgary Health Region says it is attempting to recruit some 300 family doctors to the city.

 

The issue has been in the spotlight this month after a small central Alberta town decided to raise its property taxes to pay the expenses of its only physician.

 

Bashaw, 140 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, will collect $56,000 a year to assist the doctor with staff costs and supplies. Town administrators said the tax will help ensure the physician remains in Bashaw.

 

Both the Alberta Medical Association and the Calgary Health Region said rising overhead costs for family doctors is a problem that could make it difficult to recruit and retain physicians.

 

Dr. Tzu-Kuang Lee, president of the AMA, said he is most concerned that there is a large number of ageing physicians who may decide to retire early rather than continue working in the current environment.

 

Dr. Fernandes said that unless his overhead costs stop growing so quickly, he'll consider joining a group practice, where several physicians share an office and all the expenses.

 

But, he said patient-doctor relationships can suffer in those types of clinics because patients see the "doctor of the day" instead of their own family physician.

 

The AMA has proposed the province assist physicians with their overhead costs. Calgary Health Region representatives say they are attempting to address the issue of rising overhead costs at physicians' offices.

 

"That could present a huge problem for access [to family doctors]," he said. "The shortage would worsen and we could lose a very experienced group of doctors."

 

Another family doctor, who asked not to be named, said he'll retire this fall if his landlord won't renegotiate a proposed $4,000 increase in rent. He said moving his office to another location isn't an option -- noting rents are rising around the city -- and he doesn't want to boost his income by seeing more patients.

 

"I don't want to practise treadmill medicine," said the physician.

 

The health region offers programs where teams of health-care professionals, such as home care nurses and psychiatrists, travel to doctors' offices, where they offer support.

 

Dr. Wendy Tink, who works on recruitment and retention of family physicians for the health region, said doctors can also apply for provincial funding for so-called primary care networks, where groups of doctors and health workers see patients.

[Guest Stalin]

Do you know how sorry i feel for doctors who are complaining about the rent in Calgary? I feel the same sympathy for Elementary school teachers who complain that they don't have enough time off...

 

Here are a number of reasons:

 

1. The average salary for a family doctor in Alberta is 241,000 per year... poor things.

 

2. Will any of these poor doctors lose there jobs? No. when oil tanks, or when it did in the past... many people lost their jobs and had to flee the city because they had no work... The doctors? I don't think so.. When my dad, along with all his engineer buddies were laid off... I'm sure the docs still went to Maui or California for a nice summer vacation..

 

3. I went to speak to my family doctor, because I am interested in practicing in that area. I asked her the pros and cons.. Cons: "It is like a business... I have to pay expenses, including rent, staff.. etc." I was in shock... What kind of business is medicine.. where the consumer, the patient, does not need to directly pay for a service.. Imagine walking into Safeway and not having to pay for your groceries... well.. that is what medicine is like.. the tax payer, the person in the highest tax bracket pays the bill, oil companies.. not an unemployed bum like myself..

 

Yes, I do understand that costs are rising.. and I hope the provincial government steps in and pays.. but only for selfish reasons.. Chances are if you are doc in Canada you won't lose your job.. so I'd stop complaining..

 

Last.. these family docs should think back to their @#%$ admission statements or canned answers for medical school : "I want to be a doctor so I can save the world and give back, and no I am not doing it for the money."- utter lie.

 

Just my thoughts..

[Guest Jochi1543]

A friend of mine in Calgary is currently paying $950 for a 2-bedroom condo, and her manager just hiked the rent all the way up to $1500 - she said she will have no choice but to move after the end of her lease, as once her lease is over, she will also have to pay $1500. Ridiculous! Don't they have laws limiting how much rent can be raised in a year? I think here in Minnesota it's no more than 14% or something like that.:eek

[Guest cpltanto]

Hey Stalin,

not that I'm judging you, maybe you had a rough day or somethin...

you make a fair point about the missions statement, and if these doctors are in it for the money maybe they shouldnt be, but your choice angry words also dont make you the ideal compassionate doctor.

 

Keep in mind this article (i believe) is referring more to doctors who are almost at that stage of retiring in which rising costs may deter them from practicing for many more years (due to added stress or strain that these costs may incur). I dont think its the case that they just dont think its financially possible for them to practice (dont think they're actually saying they'd be losing money) but if you're getting up there in age and almost ready to retire, rising costs is a valid reason to retire their practice...

who knows, in my happy ideal world, I imagine these retiring doctors continuing trying to "save the world" by devoting their time volunteering overseas lol

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi,

 

I'm currently working in a group family medicine practice just outside of Calgary and I can see how the costs can climb. Not only are they renting a fair-sized unit in a commercial building (containing 2x5 examination rooms, 1 procedural room, 1 staff room containing a table, fridge, sink etc., for lunches, a sizeable reception area to house 5-times-x-number of charts, desk and computers and a reception area, an extra office or two for drop-in specialists to spend a day or two there per week), but this practice is also staffed by at least 4-5 RNs as well as administrative staff. Nevermind the "insensible losses" such as paper, photocopier ink, phone lines, electronic medical record systems (which they are implementing later this year), etc. These expenses are offset by incomes that are relatively low, i.e., 35-50 patients per day at relatively small billing rates.

 

It's no wonder that these doctors, although they live in Calgary, have decided to locate their practice a decent distance outside the city limits. It's completely understandable that the credits and debits of a family doctor's balance sheet (even within a group practice) might approach one another.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest Lurkergonepublic]

Before applying to med school I spoke to a number of doctors I knew, and many of them cited money as a major source of stress, for a few reasons:

 

1- you graduate with huge debt, so your first few years of practice you are focused on paying it off.

 

2- huge operational costs: office and staff as Kirsteen mentioned (plus the fact that if you run a clinic it is a private business, and there is little business training in med school, so if you're not naturally adept in the area, you may need to higher an office manager). There are also those huge insurance premiums.

 

3- fixed fees. Yes you can make a lot, but the specific service fees are fairly fixed. The only way to increase your income is to squeeze more visits in the same time (reducing quality) or work longer hours.

 

4- High tax bracket. Yes you're income is large, but you lose a lot of that, never to see it again. Trying to find all the best tax shelters to minimize that is going to cost for an accountant too.

 

5- No retirement plan. Once you've finally paid off your debts, and bought the house, etc to be comfortable, you need some serious planning for a retirement nest egg, as there are no pensions for doctors. This is compounded by a shorter income generating working life, due to the extra school time.

 

Now no one is saying doctor's are poor, or are going to be out of work, but they are susceptible to these and other factors. If the average income and all sorts of prices are rising in Calgary due to oil, a doctor's medical fees (fixed by the government) are not rising accordingly, so regardless of what income level the person was living at, they will have to adjust down, work longer, and/or compensate for rising expenses. I can see this particularly being a problem for docs closer to retirement. They have less time to save for those non-working years, so their plans are more dependent on maintaining high short term income at the end of their careers.

 

Of course there are greedy people who resent any threat to their income, but those with lower income are suseptible for resenting what they don't have as well, seeing money as the answer to all life's trouble. I think it's important to remember that having a lot more money doesn't eliminate one's problems, it just replaces the old problems with new ones. How likely are you to be the target of theft or a law suit if you make 30K a year and everyone knows it? How about 500K? Just an example (and yes, I too am one of those people who have occasionaly thought; "I've heard money doesn't buy happiness, but I already know poverty doesn't either, so I wouldn't mind trying.")

[Guest Stalin]

I guess I have taken a bit of beating from my fellow future doctors... I basically wrote most of that because I like to stir some good debate.

 

Here are some points I do agree with:

 

As rental prices and other operating do increase..there should be an increase in fee for serivice procedures or other tax incentives for doctors...

 

But, I guess, here is what bothers me somewhat..

 

1982... everyone and there dog lost there job related to the oil patch...engineers and anyone related... How much did doctors really suffer?

 

2003-present... rental prices are increasing.. labour increases... Klein government adds major dollars to medicine, among other areas... Oil guys anything related to oil... making a killing... Doctor's salary unchanged.. but operating costs are up so... they may make slightly less... Even though Alberta Doctors make the most compared to other parts of the country.... So I guess in the boom time... being a doctor isn't all its cut out to be... While in bust.. bad economic times.. being a doctor great... because there was a shortage in 90's and even today...

 

But lets compare the Alberta Doctor to the Ontario manufacturer... In Ontario, with a rising loonie...they are getting killed because of a devaluation of our biggest trading partner... our rhode scholar from Texas, President Bush.. Manufacturing is getting killed.. the core of the Ontario economy... businesses shutting down.. Ford.. GM ... to name a few.. are laying off workers... And what is happening to our fellow doctors in Ontario??? Have you heard of Doctors losing their jobs.. no...

 

Myth of the doctor paying tax:

 

I get really upset when I hear Doctors complaining they have pay 50 percent tax.. First of all we have a progressive tax system.. so only after about 60 K do we pay full taxes.. but there is an advantage of being a doctor compared with an employee.. i.e. the oil engineer or anywone who doesn't have a business...

 

Take the Doctor who has a professional corporation and earns 200,000 a year....and the employee, i.e., the oil engineer... who keeps more money???

 

For the the employee.. everything above and beyond the 60K mark is taxed at the highest income tax braket...

 

While the Doctor with a professional corporation is allowed to income split... I.e.. he keeps the first 60,000 for himself... so he/she isn't taxed at the highest income tax bracket. As for their spouse.. there is a good chance they won't work.. and get paid another 60,000... so that many is not taxed at the higest tax braket.. then there are the kids... who can also be paid as employees of the professional corporation. This is a practice that is endorsed by the Canada Revenue agency.. because the government believes that those who create business create jobs for others and should be permitted to keep more money.. Did I mention the tax reduction for Canadian Controlled private corporations..

 

So, overall, doctors have their own business and can pay less tax.. and are not likely to lose there job.

 

And to the person who wrote I don't have compassion.. I wouldn't be so quick to judge. I am just not ignorant to the economic realities of business and tax, as I have worked in these areas for a while..

 

Stalin