On Wednesday, the AMA told Postmedia the physicians were waiting on a response, and declined to comment beyond the letter

As Alberta oncologists enter into negotiations for a new collective agreement, they say the province’s cancer care system is in “crisis.”

In a Jan. 15 letter to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange and Alberta Health Services (AHS) president and CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, cancer care doctors called for the government to take action to address long wait times, increasing workloads for staff, and the need for more recruitment amid fierce competition with other provinces.

“We strongly believe Alberta’s cancer care wait times are unacceptable,” they wrote on behalf of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) section of radiation oncology, along with the support of more than more than 50 cancer care doctors. In Calgary, it takes more than 20 weeks for 90 per cent of patients, from their referral date, to receive radiotherapy, the letter stated.