Notice to Members
April 6, 2020, 1:30 p.m.
Dear Colleagues,
Here is our update for today:
- Chiropractic care remains limited to urgent, critical and emergency care. The public health order issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health remains in effect. Please review the Notice to Members from March 30, 2020 for all details.
- Development continues on the return to practice plan. As discussed in previous notices, all indications point to COVID-19 being present for some time, if not necessarily in pandemic form. The ACAC is actively developing a return to practice plan that will enable chiropractors to safely care for patients while COVID-19 is present. This plan will be available in advance of the return to more typical business operations. This will allow clinics time to implement the recommendations to support the physical safety of clinic staff and patients despite the presence of COVID-19.
- Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) eligibility. As details about the CERB program emerge, we identified that the requirement to have no work income is in conflict with chiropractors’ ability to see patients on an emergency basis in person and via Telehealth. As this care is intermittent and limited by provincial government orders, both the ACAC and the CCA are lobbying the federal government for changes to the CERB program to allow emergency treatment of patients in person or via Telehealth while retaining access to the CERB program.
As CCA just recently announced, we are pleased to report these joint advocacy efforts are working. Government is now working on expanding CERB to include individuals who work reduced hours to allow them to access the financial support through the CERB.
In the meantime—if you plan to apply for the CERB program and continue to see emergent patients, we recommend that you do not charge patients for any care at this time. That will allow you to retain your eligibility for the CERB program until our recommendations are adopted.
- The business resources section of the ACAC COVID-19 page is updated. We encourage you to check the page for links on supports and resources for businesses navigating the pandemic.
We hope this information is helpful. Be safe and be healthy, and we’ll connect with you again on Tuesday.
Warmest regards,
Dr. Todd Halowski
Registrar
Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors
11203 - 70 Street NW
Edmonton, AB, T5B 1T1
P 780.420.0932 | F 780.425.6583
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