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A new Alberta government pilot project is hoping to address a common challenge facing citizens accessing health care in a city that straddles two provinces.<\/p>\n
Imagine you\u2019re a rural Albertan travelling to the nearest city for a health-care appointment with a specialist. You clear your schedule to drive more than 200 kilometres \u2014 one way. You pay for gas. You pay for parking at the hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You sit in the waiting room. You\u2019re seen for your appointment. You complete all the testing and can now go home, which requires another 200-kilometre trip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now imagine your family doctor can\u2019t see the results of those tests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
K.C. Hull lives on the Alberta side of Lloydminster, a city that straddles the boundary between Alberta and Saskatchewan. She said she is all too familiar with the experience, and she\u2019s not alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many others living in and around the city are accustomed to the challenges the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary can pose when it comes to health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an uphill battle all the time,\u201d Hull said.<\/p>\n
Her family doctor practises on the Saskatchewan side of Lloydminster. But as an Alberta resident with a number of health issues, she said she is often referred to specialists in Edmonton.<\/p>\n
Hull said those specialists can\u2019t access records of care received in Saskatchewan. And unless she specifically requests it, results from care received in Alberta don\u2019t go to her family doctor. And even when she does ask, she said there are still problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t always happen, and then you end up with a mess,\u201d said Hull. \u201cIt either gets sent to them, or they\u2019re clueless.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s costing the taxpayers money, because tests have to be done twice; if they can\u2019t find the results, they have to order the test again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Lloydminster resident K.C. Hull stopped to chat to CBC News about issues she has to deal with when it comes to her health records during the Oct. 1, 2025 grand opening of the Cenovus Energy Hub. CBC’s Heather Hiscox hosted a panel discussion that day on barriers to care in the border city. (Adrienne Lamb\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Stories like Hull\u2019s were the driving force behind the Alberta government\u2019s pilot project launching in Lloydminster this January. The program will allow Saskatchewan-based doctors and pharmacists view-only access to Netcare, Alberta\u2019s electronic health record system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell said tackling the medical file-sharing problems in the border city has been on his agenda since he was first elected in 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an issue for, I\u2019ll say decades,\u201d he told CBC News. \u201cIt\u2019s been forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, why the wait?\u00a0<\/p>\n