Leaked document sparks health concerns

A leaked Alberta Health Services document recommending downgrades and closures of a number of health facilities in the former David Thompson health region put rural centres in southern Alberta on edge Thursday. The internal document — obtained by the Friends of Medicare (FOM) — references a Capital Master Plan for the former health region, which has not been approved by the Alberta Health Services (AHS) board. The Medical Staff Newsletter, dated March 31, 2009, outlined a proposal for 10 central Alberta hospitals be downgraded to “urgent care centres” and another five health facilities to be closed.FOM executive director David Eggen Thursday called on Health Minister Ron Liepert to release plans for other rural facilities, noting the Albertans have been waiting for this information for months. “You’ve got to figure if they have a plan like this for David Thompson, they’ll be doing similar exercises through other rural areas,” said Eggen.“If this is not going to happen, then let people know because there has been rumours and confusion for the last eight months about rural hospital centralization.”Liepert pledged late Thursday that the province will consult with rural communities before closing or changing any of their medical facilities. The Town of Bow Island may get clarification on the status of their hospital in less than two weeks.“We’ve been asked to meet with the MLAs and the minister,” said Mayor Alan Hyland. “We haven’t heard anything. There’s been no subject matter or anything like that.” Cypress-Medicine Hat MLA Len Mitzel was unavailable for comment, but a receptionist at the legislature office confirmed a meeting has been scheduled for May 27 with the hospital, Liepert and local MLAs.The meeting is more than what the communities believed to be in greatest jeopardy have received.Hanna’s mayor, Mary Collins, learned through the media that her hospital is listed as one of the facilities recommended to be downgraded.That news follows a visit last week from an AHS representative who announced use of their dialysis machine would be discontinued May 25. Patients have been told they will have to travel an hour to and from Drumheller.“Don’t just come in and tell us you’re closing it down. We need to understand why and the lady who came to deliver that news of course had no authority to release any information,” said Collins. “All we know is it’s going and they are going to send our patients via taxi from Hanna to Drumheller if they have no one to drive them.”Hanna taxi drivers are not all trained in emergency first aid response, the very minimum which should be expected when transporting a patient, she said.Further downgrades to their facility will put a strain on the aging community, said Collins, who has attended four 100th birthday parties in Hanna over the last 18 months. The hospital has five doctors and “an awful lot of money is pulled out of this little town,” to support STARS air ambulances. “Once again it’s a strike against the small, rural centres,” said Collins. “I’m trying to attract people to Hanna, how am I going to do that? We don’t all want to live in the city. It’s a lifestyle choice and we like it, that’s why we’re here.”Hospitals in Rimbey, Ponoka, Lacombe, Innisfail, Castor, Coronation, Consort, Sundre and Three Hills were also recommended to become urgent care centres. Health centres in Trochu and Castor were marked for closure. Long-term care centres in Bentley, Trochu and Breton were marked for closure.Urgent care centres are expected to treat patients with non-life-threatening health concerns that require same-day treatment. People with life-threatening conditions still need to travel to hospitals with emergency departments.The FOM also claims it has reason to believe AHS will be announcing significant budget cuts in July. Eggen says it’s time Albertans start hearing these announcements straight from the source.“We’d like to have some disclosure. If Mr. Liepert wants to improve the health system, I think the first thing he could do is improve communication because he keeps us in the dark and it’s chaos.”–With files from The Canadian Press