Poor Process Haunts Superboard

Friends of Medicare are concerned the executive search ads looking for Alberta Health Services Board members have slid by without much notice, with the application deadline closing today.

“I don’t think most Albertans were aware the public could apply for a position on the board. Friends of Medicare thinks the government should extend this deadline and come clean on how the minister plans to change our public health system”, says David Eggen, executive director for Friends of Medicare.

There have been many questions raised about the dissolution of regional health boards and the composition of the new health superboard. Now there is a secretive process to choose board members and Albertans have a right to know how and why these decisions are being made.

“Albertans feel our public health care system slipping out of their hands, and the choices being made around the superboard are just making things worse,” says Eggen. Also, Friends of Medicare finds it disturbing that Alberta Health Services has expressed the possibility of choosing members from outside the province or even from outside the country. Resumes for the superboard position are being accepted by Boyden Global Executive Search, an American Corporation headquartered in New York, rather than the usual channel of the Alberta government’s job application service.

"What would be most appropriate would be to hold elections to this type of publicly accountable board. We had fully elected hospital boards not that long ago, and it's only five years since the government abruptly cancelled elections for some of the Regional Health Board positions," Eggen points out.

Although the job advertisement is on far too short notice and without clear criteria as to how the selection process will be made, Eggen has been encouraging Albertans to apply. “We have thousands of individuals in this province dedicated to strengthening and expanding our public health care system. A friend of medicare or two on the board would help the situation considerably!”

Spend budget surplus on health care, Alberta urged
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 10:40 AM MT Comments17Recommend7
CBC News
A coalition of groups that promotes medicare in Alberta is calling on the province to direct some of its budget surplus toward health-care delivery.
The Alberta government announced Tuesday it is projecting a $8.5 billion budget surplus for this fiscal year because of higher than expected oil and gas revenues.
David Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, said in Calgary the government could find many areas in the health-care system where money could be spent to improve services for Albertans.
"Wait times are unconscionable," he said. "Our health-care professional shortage could be alleviated. This is money that is meant to be invested back into the population. Our public health care system needs it. And certainly, we can afford it."
Eggen said the government cannot argue that it doesn't have the money to spend on health care and earmarking funds for specific problems would be money well spent.
The surplus is $7 billion higher than the government projected in its budget released in April.
"Obviously, the money is available, and you get a fantastic return when you invest in the security of public health here in the province," he said.
As part of the first-quarter fiscal update, Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert said Tuesday the province will give $97 million to the new Alberta Health Services Board to cover regional health authority deficits and an additional $80 million to cover transitional costs.
However, Eggen said, money is needed for more than governance.
Much of the budget surplus has already been allocated.
Finance Minister Iris Evans said the government will allocate $2.5 billion to unspecified savings, $2 billion to create a fund for carbon capture and storage projects, $2 billion to roll out public transit upgrades and $1 billion to complete infrastructure projects.

Canmore becomes Third New Chapter!

FOM was in Canmore to start the Bow Valley chapter of Friends of medicare Tuesday night. There are two wonderful hospitals in the valley with excellent public service, and the Bow Valley Friends of Medicare will be there to keep it that way, and to offer direction for the expansion and strengthening of public health care.

"Mike from Canmore" lives on, and he is a friend of medicare too!

Medicare advocate stops in Peace Country
CRYSTAL RHYNO - Herald-Tribune staff

Friends of Medicare wants to rally the troops for people who want to stand up for public health care and ensure public health care is there for everyone in the Peace Country when they need it.
David Eggen, executive director for Friends of Medicare in Alberta, is taking that message and this goal to various groups throughout the province.
“It’s important for our whole province to get a clear vision of where our public health-care system is going,” said Eggen. “There’s lots of issues that have popped up. We have lost our regional health board. We’re trying to remind people of the importance of our public health-care system.
Eggen said the group wants to ask the new super board in Edmonton to make clear exactly what their intentions are for each of the regions.
“Here in the Peace region there has always been a shortage of health-care personnel,” added Eggen. “We’ve had some confusion about the hospital, as to how big it is going to be or how many beds we’re going to have. We want to ensure whatever plans are in place they are going to be publicly delivered, publicly administered and health-care is there for everyone.”
On Wednesday, Eggen was at the Anglican Church Hall and the previous evening he was in Peace River.


"We have been travelling around the province,” said Eggen. “People have been very concerned about the lack of information and so we are reminding people together we stand stronger as a population to pressure for public-health-care financing.”
Friends of Medicare is an advocacy group whose objective is to raise public awareness on concerns related to Medicare in Alberta and Canada.

Here are some more pictures from our most excellent adventure to the Peace Country. Note the confluence of the Peace and Smoky rivers, the giant beaver and the fine people at the Anglican churches in Peace River and Beaverlodge.

Beaverlodge and Peace River

Excellent discussion and lots of new Friends of Medicare in the Peace Country. A new Chapter too! If you would like to create a new chapter in your community, please let us know. Our crack team of presenters and organizers will help you every step of the way.

Province commits $5M to finish Chumir Centre

Michelle Lang
Calgary Herald
Wednesday, August 20, 2008

The Alberta government is committing $5 million to complete the last floor of Calgary's new Sheldon Chumir Centre after the clinic ran out of construction funding.
But there is still no cash to operate 12 unopened urgent care beds at the facility.
The province announced Tuesday it will provide $5.1 million to finish the eighth floor of the Beltline medical centre, which partially opened in the spring.
The floor will house a community health clinic and treat an estimated 30,000 patients a year.
Alberta Health previously provided $90 million to build the Sheldon Chumir Centre, but the Calgary Health Region ran short of cash, thanks to the growing cost of construction in the city, and wasn't able to complete the floor.
"We want to ensure this will be a leading centre across Canada," said Health Minister Ron Liepert, adding the centre will serve the core.
But the government did not announce additional dollars to open a dozen treatment beds on the Sheldon Chumir Centre's main floor urgent care centre, and Liepert said he has no plans to change the health region's operating budget.
The cash-strapped health authority is operating only 18 out of 30 available treatment beds on the urgent care floor because of its budgetary constraints.
Health-care lobby groups welcomed the cash to complete the eighth floor, but said the province must also open all the urgent care beds. Friends of Medicare officials said boosting urgent care could help relieve pressure on Calgary's health system, noting patients face lengthy waits in local emergency rooms.
"It's fine and dandy to build a clinic, but you need to make sure you're not just building buildings," said Dave Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
"There's a big history of building grand structures with nothing inside," Eggen said.
Liepert said the province's new medical superboard, which is taking over the delivery of health services from the regional authorities, will be addressing the issue around urgent care beds at Sheldon Chumir.
The Calgary Health Region opened some floors of the Sheldon Chumir clinic, located at 12th Avenue and 4th Street S.W., in April.
The facility houses dozens of services, including a sexually transmitted disease clinic and a dialysis unit.
The eighth floor will become a community health clinic where Calgarians will be able to see 18 to 20 family doctors, when it is complete next year.
Officials said the clinic will be leading edge because the physicians will work with a multi-disciplinary team of medical professionals, such as nurses and respiratory therapists, to deliver comprehensive care.
Patients will also be referred to services in other areas of the centre rather than travelling to other clinics for care.
David Megran, chief medical officer at the Calgary region, said the clinic will help address the family doctor shortage that has left 200,000 Calgarians without a regular physician.
mlang@theherald.canwest.com

Report details hospital crisis
Review for province finds city's facilities severely strained

Michelle Lang
Calgary Herald
Monday, August 11, 2008
An independent report commissioned by the province to examine Calgary's planned south hospital found the city's medical infrastructure has lagged behind demand from its booming population, creating "one of the most strained regions in Alberta."
The report -- obtained by the Herald through Freedom of Information legislation -- suggests local hospitals are stretched for space and operating at an average 91 per cent occupancy, well above the optimal rate of about 75 per cent.
Opposition parties said Friday the findings of the McKinsey review reflect the bed shortages and lineups in emergency rooms that have been growing since three city hospitals were closed during public sector cutbacks in the 1990s.
"This is an overarching comment on the state of health-care infrastructure that basically says, 'guys, you've got a problem,' " said MLA Dave Taylor, Alberta Liberal health critic.
But details of the McKinsey report's proposals for alternative bed numbers aren't known; government officials blacked out large portions of the report's recommendations, citing provisions under freedom of information laws.
In July, Calgary Health Region acknowledged it is scaling back some of its plans for the south hospital in its first phase. The region is now planning to build 228 beds, instead of the 260 initially proposed for 2011. The authority also cut a psychiatric wing in the initial phase.
Representatives with the Alberta Health Services Board and government said no cutbacks have been determined for the south hospital. They said the facility will still have the same total number of beds, about 644, and a full psychiatric wing once the final stage of the hospital is complete in 2017.
"No decisions have been made, and we will work closely with the Alberta Health Services Board in adjusting projects appropriately," said Howard May, a spokesman with Alberta Health.
Portions of the consultant's report that were made available to the Herald suggest the space problems in Calgary hospitals are worse than most other areas of the province. Only Fort McMurray-based Northern Lights Health Region faced greater capacity problems.
In Calgary, the report notes government closed 1,500 hospital beds during cutbacks a decade ago -- before the population explosion of recent years. Today, the consultants suggest 1,913 beds remain in the city's three hospitals, which face occupancy rates ranging from 91 per cent to 94 per cent.
"Given (Calgary's) status as a net importer of patients from other regions, one might expect it to have an above-average health infrastructure," said the report. "This is not the case, however."
According to the documents, there will be continued population growth in the city and bedroom communities to the south of the city, such as Okotoks and High River, driving demand for a south hospital.
Critics like the Liberals' Taylor and health-care lobby groups said the report shows the need for the south hospital to be built with as many beds and services as originally envisioned.
Friends of Medicare officials said the report suggests the province is looking to significantly scale back the south hospital and called on government to release all of the consultant's recommendations.
"We don't want it to be a mere shadow of what was promised," said Dave Eggen of Friends of Medicare.
"We need to know we're getting the full facility and the programs that have been identified as necessary."
Health Minister Ron Liepert was not available for comment Friday.
The Alberta Health Services Board's Kastner said the report is just one of several considerations facing the board as it moves ahead with the capital projects.
mlang@theherald.canwest.com

Obviously, there is a fog of confusion around the public health officials leaving. How does this affect public health safety? What does it say about how business will be conducted under the new "superboard" regime?

Alberta couldn't meet doctors' demands: Liepert Jodie SinnemaThe Edmonton Journal
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
EDMONTON - One day after the salaries of four public health doctors were made public, Alberta's health minister says he never claimed their salaries were too high in his explanation as to why their contracts weren't renewed.
"(I) did not say their salaries were too high," Ron Liepert said Tuesday. "I said these are contracts and they're negotiated contracts. What I said at the time was, going forward, there were demands that we didn't feel we could agree to."
On Monday, The Journal learned through a request to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy office that Dr. Karen Grimsrud earned $219,228 (plus benefits, travel costs and coverage of annual professional fees) in her role as the acting chief medical officer of health in Alberta. She leaves her post Aug. 2 after unsuccessful contract negotiations.
Manitoba paid its chief medical officer of health $277,379 in 2007 and Ontario paid its chief $282,100 in 2006, although the doctor who has taken over that role in an acting capacity after the chief medical officer died made $235,969.91.
Such salaries are made public each year in Manitoba, Ontario, B.C. and Saskatchewan. Alberta Health wouldn't release Grimsrud's salary figures in June when the public learned she and three top public health officials were not continuing with the department. That potentially left the public health office with no medical doctors to guide policy and monitor public health outbreaks.
At that time, Liepert said the province was unable to pay for the doctors. "This is not speaking negatively of the doctors who chose to leave, but there is a limit as to what the government of Alberta can pay for certain positions," he said June 10. "All I'm telling you is there were opportunities that we could not match."
When asked why he did not make an offer that would entice the doctors to stay, Liepert replied, "because it would put everything out of whack."
Dr. Gloria Keays, who led West Nile virus surveillance in Alberta, made $183,156 or $195,528 each year, depending on her role. She left her job June 30 along with Dr. Ameeta Singh, the infectious disease consultant for Alberta Health and Wellness. Singh, who worked part-time, made $156,384 plus expenses.
Dr. Shainoor Virani also left the department. The Freedom of Information office didn't release her salary, citing legislation that allowed it to "refuse to disclose personal information to an applicant if the disclosure would be an unreasonable invasion of a third party's personal privacy."
Dr. Gerry Predy, medical officer of health for Capital Health, and his counterpart in Calgary are now filling in until permanent replacements can be found.
While Predy and Dr. Richard Musto are fantastic public health doctors, their lack of expertise in certain areas such as infectious diseases is leaving the public health department floundering at times, said Dr. Stan Houston, a University of Alberta medical professor in the infectious diseases and public health division.
Houston said when the department had to deal with a pregnant woman with syphilis, calls bounced around in an effort to find someone who could handle it. Previously, Singh would have been in charge. "Day-to-day decisions are not happening," said Houston, who knows some of the departing doctors.
NDP Leader Brian Mason said the health minister must explain what is happening in the province's public health department and with the doctors.
"These officials have been gagged by clauses in their contracts which make it impossible for them to challenge Minister Liepert's version of the truth."
jsinnema@thejournal.canwest.com
MEDICAL EXPERT SPEAKS OUT
Dr. Stan Houston, a University of Alberta medical professor in the infectious diseases and public health division, has publicly criticized Health Minister Ron Liepert for his alleged lack of support for the provincial public health department. Houston said the four public health doctors left the department because it was "toxic and difficult."
The Journal asked Houston to further describe that toxicity.
"In terms of the 'toxic environment,' firstly, I know that my colleague, Dr. (Ameeta) Singh, was constantly hitting her head against the wall to try and get permission and support for the kind of active response we urgently need to counter our explosive syphilis epidemic," he said in an e-mail.
Alberta had 202 infectious syphilis cases in 2006, a 41-per-cent increase from the 143 cases in 2005.
"Secondly, I got a consistent message of a difficult, unpleasant and obstructive working environment from every one of the several people I know in Alberta Health public health over the last several years, including someone I know socially who left the department precisely for that reason. I am afraid that impression is pretty subjective, but it is certainly strong and consistent.
"Finally, I think whenever things are going this badly in a department, you have to look at the (former) deputy minister (Paddy Meade) and I can tell you that her name comes up frequently and in colourful terms when public health people are talking about their department."
© The Edmonton Journal 2008