Monday, August 31, 2009
Stelmach and Liepert BBQ and golf thier way to a brave new health system
Katz kicks in $500,000 for Stollery
Stelmach vows to match cash
By Nick Lees, Edmonton JournalAugust 31, 2009 8:12 AMComments (2)
Sam Abouhassan was on the golf course in Jasper Saturday when he got a$500,000 call from Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz.
"I'd like to donate the money and name an area in the new Stollery Children's Hospital emergency department after you and Kevin Lowe," said Katz.
"It would be great if the government matched the amount."
Clothier Abouhassan and Lowe, Oilers president of hockey operations, were hoping to raise $1 million at their 10th annual Tee Up For Tots golf game at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
"I'm not involved in the political implications of the funds we raise and suggested to Daryl he contact Jennifer Wood, the president and CEO of the Stollery Foundation," said Abouhassan.
Said Wood: "I spoke to Premier Ed Stelmach after the game and he said he would find the funds to match Daryl's generous offer.
"We need to first see plans for the new pediatric emergency unit. But we would be delighted to name an area after Sam and Kevin."
The Tee Up for Tots game, with its theme of Legends of Golf, Legacy of Giving, raised $2.37 million on the weekend, taking its 10-year total to $6.37 million.
Gord Martin of Telus helped set the giving mood at the post-game banquet at the Lodge by announcing his company had double-matched staff donations and presented Tee Up For Tots a cheque for$205,000.
The live auction raised a total of $309,000, with Lowe and Gord English setting the pace by each paying $30,000 for the right to take a party of 16 to the JPL for golf and an overnight stay.
Gord Reykdal paid $31,000 for dinner with Stelmach and his wife at the home at the home of Abouhassan and his wife Angela.
Don McFadden spent $30,000 on a New York trip to see the Rangers play and have dinner with Glen and Ann Sather and also dine with Mark Messier.
John Hokanson and English each paid $30,000 for four tickets to the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix and VIP accommodation at a desert resort and spa.
Abouhassan, Jasper's George Andrew and I expect a good workout when we take two parties by freighter canoe to the end of Maligne Lake to camp and fish. A party led by Tony Franceschini, and another led by Doug Goss and Marshall Sadd, each paid $23,000 for the pleasure. It did include a JPL stay, golf and dinner in Papa George's, the restaurant in Andrew's Astoria Hotel.
It had the makings of a good weekend when Glen Sather arrived and a telephone call had to be made to Jasper entrepreneur Peter Hayashi, asking him to bring a bottle of grappa to the JPL. "Does he drink that rubbish?" asked Hayashi, who was warmly thanked by the premier for raising $35,000 for the Stollery in an hour at a breakfast attended by about 100 locals.
Edmonton's Ryan Romanko, in charge of an Investors Group sponsored $50,000 hole-in-one, was so taken by the magic of the weekend he proposed to Amanda Brown.
A special presentation was made to Bruce Saville for supporting all 10 years of the tournament and for being a Stollery board member for 12 years.
Playing in the same golf foursome as Sather was Health Minister Ron Liepert, "I began playing golf when I covered the legislature as a reporter," said Liepert.
"I often play a couple of times a week and love the game because of the people you meet."
Said Sather: "It was an awesome weekend. The people of Edmonton are so generous. They deserve to call their city The City of Champions."
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Stelmach vows to match cash
By Nick Lees, Edmonton JournalAugust 31, 2009 8:12 AMComments (2)
Sam Abouhassan was on the golf course in Jasper Saturday when he got a$500,000 call from Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz.
"I'd like to donate the money and name an area in the new Stollery Children's Hospital emergency department after you and Kevin Lowe," said Katz.
"It would be great if the government matched the amount."
Clothier Abouhassan and Lowe, Oilers president of hockey operations, were hoping to raise $1 million at their 10th annual Tee Up For Tots golf game at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge.
"I'm not involved in the political implications of the funds we raise and suggested to Daryl he contact Jennifer Wood, the president and CEO of the Stollery Foundation," said Abouhassan.
Said Wood: "I spoke to Premier Ed Stelmach after the game and he said he would find the funds to match Daryl's generous offer.
"We need to first see plans for the new pediatric emergency unit. But we would be delighted to name an area after Sam and Kevin."
The Tee Up for Tots game, with its theme of Legends of Golf, Legacy of Giving, raised $2.37 million on the weekend, taking its 10-year total to $6.37 million.
Gord Martin of Telus helped set the giving mood at the post-game banquet at the Lodge by announcing his company had double-matched staff donations and presented Tee Up For Tots a cheque for$205,000.
The live auction raised a total of $309,000, with Lowe and Gord English setting the pace by each paying $30,000 for the right to take a party of 16 to the JPL for golf and an overnight stay.
Gord Reykdal paid $31,000 for dinner with Stelmach and his wife at the home at the home of Abouhassan and his wife Angela.
Don McFadden spent $30,000 on a New York trip to see the Rangers play and have dinner with Glen and Ann Sather and also dine with Mark Messier.
John Hokanson and English each paid $30,000 for four tickets to the Muhammad Ali Celebrity Fight Night in Phoenix and VIP accommodation at a desert resort and spa.
Abouhassan, Jasper's George Andrew and I expect a good workout when we take two parties by freighter canoe to the end of Maligne Lake to camp and fish. A party led by Tony Franceschini, and another led by Doug Goss and Marshall Sadd, each paid $23,000 for the pleasure. It did include a JPL stay, golf and dinner in Papa George's, the restaurant in Andrew's Astoria Hotel.
It had the makings of a good weekend when Glen Sather arrived and a telephone call had to be made to Jasper entrepreneur Peter Hayashi, asking him to bring a bottle of grappa to the JPL. "Does he drink that rubbish?" asked Hayashi, who was warmly thanked by the premier for raising $35,000 for the Stollery in an hour at a breakfast attended by about 100 locals.
Edmonton's Ryan Romanko, in charge of an Investors Group sponsored $50,000 hole-in-one, was so taken by the magic of the weekend he proposed to Amanda Brown.
A special presentation was made to Bruce Saville for supporting all 10 years of the tournament and for being a Stollery board member for 12 years.
Playing in the same golf foursome as Sather was Health Minister Ron Liepert, "I began playing golf when I covered the legislature as a reporter," said Liepert.
"I often play a couple of times a week and love the game because of the people you meet."
Said Sather: "It was an awesome weekend. The people of Edmonton are so generous. They deserve to call their city The City of Champions."
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Tories revive stollery funding
About-face on $23M expansion of children's hospital called bid to turn tide of bad medical news
By Richard Warnica, Edmonton JournalAugust 30, 2009Comments (11)
Critics on Saturday blasted Premier Ed Stelmach's surprise announcement that the Stollery Children's Hospital's emergency room expansion will go forward.
A health-care advocate accused the government of trying to turn the page on weeks of bad medical news by re-announcing a$23-million expansion of the overcrowded pediatric unit.
Friends of Medicare executive director David Eggen called the announcement--which was made by Stelmach at a golf tournament in Jasper on Friday --a "desperate" piece of "recycled" news.
"They're just digging around to try to mitigate all the cuts they've been making," Eggen said. "They're desperate to send some positive message out there."
Money for the expansion was first announced last August and construction was supposed to have begun this spring.
But, when the provincial budget came down in April, the money was frozen and the project deferred indefinitely.
Liberal health critic Kevin Taft called the decision to restart the expansion the right one, but called the delay of more than four months costly.
Taft, whose Edmonton riding includes the Stollery, said excavators were literally on-site and ready to begin work when the project was stopped.
"This is the kind of bumbling and mismanagement of decisions that costs our health-care system and the people who need it so dearly," Taft said. "In the end the right thing gets done, but how much extra pain and cost gets incurred by this decision is beyond measure."
Health Minister Ron Liepert defended the delay.
Liepert said Saturday the province's fiscal situation forced the government to review all major capital projects.
In this case, he said, they had to consider the possibility that space vacated in the University of Alberta Hospital by the opening of the Mazankowski Heart Institute might have provided a cheaper way to expanded the Stollery. Once that was ruled out, he said, the project was allowed to move forward.
Liepert also rejected Taft's charge that the delay may have been costly, arguing costs of construction have gone down in recent months.
"I think there's no question that the amount of money allocated will cover the project today. It may not have covered it a year ago," he said.
"At that time we were running 25-per-cent escalation on our construction projects. That's not going to happen today."
The province is contributing $18 million to the project. The remaining $5 million will be covered by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.
The Stollery had more than 24,000 ER visits in the last fiscal year, more than double the roughly 12,000 it averaged when it was officially opened in 2001.
For the past 18 months, overflow patients from the unit have been treated in a large tent set up outside.
Bruce Wright, the assistant director of the Stollery's emergency department, said the tent will be closed once construction on the expanded unit begins.
Wright said patients who would otherwise be treated in the tent will be rerouted to units with extra space until the project is complete.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
About-face on $23M expansion of children's hospital called bid to turn tide of bad medical news
By Richard Warnica, Edmonton JournalAugust 30, 2009Comments (11)
Critics on Saturday blasted Premier Ed Stelmach's surprise announcement that the Stollery Children's Hospital's emergency room expansion will go forward.
A health-care advocate accused the government of trying to turn the page on weeks of bad medical news by re-announcing a$23-million expansion of the overcrowded pediatric unit.
Friends of Medicare executive director David Eggen called the announcement--which was made by Stelmach at a golf tournament in Jasper on Friday --a "desperate" piece of "recycled" news.
"They're just digging around to try to mitigate all the cuts they've been making," Eggen said. "They're desperate to send some positive message out there."
Money for the expansion was first announced last August and construction was supposed to have begun this spring.
But, when the provincial budget came down in April, the money was frozen and the project deferred indefinitely.
Liberal health critic Kevin Taft called the decision to restart the expansion the right one, but called the delay of more than four months costly.
Taft, whose Edmonton riding includes the Stollery, said excavators were literally on-site and ready to begin work when the project was stopped.
"This is the kind of bumbling and mismanagement of decisions that costs our health-care system and the people who need it so dearly," Taft said. "In the end the right thing gets done, but how much extra pain and cost gets incurred by this decision is beyond measure."
Health Minister Ron Liepert defended the delay.
Liepert said Saturday the province's fiscal situation forced the government to review all major capital projects.
In this case, he said, they had to consider the possibility that space vacated in the University of Alberta Hospital by the opening of the Mazankowski Heart Institute might have provided a cheaper way to expanded the Stollery. Once that was ruled out, he said, the project was allowed to move forward.
Liepert also rejected Taft's charge that the delay may have been costly, arguing costs of construction have gone down in recent months.
"I think there's no question that the amount of money allocated will cover the project today. It may not have covered it a year ago," he said.
"At that time we were running 25-per-cent escalation on our construction projects. That's not going to happen today."
The province is contributing $18 million to the project. The remaining $5 million will be covered by the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.
The Stollery had more than 24,000 ER visits in the last fiscal year, more than double the roughly 12,000 it averaged when it was officially opened in 2001.
For the past 18 months, overflow patients from the unit have been treated in a large tent set up outside.
Bruce Wright, the assistant director of the Stollery's emergency department, said the tent will be closed once construction on the expanded unit begins.
Wright said patients who would otherwise be treated in the tent will be rerouted to units with extra space until the project is complete.
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Health workers asked to retire
Patient care will suffer, say critics of voluntary plan
By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton JournalAugust 27, 2009 9:36 AMComments (32)
Nurses, laboratory technicians and other health professionals will be asked to take voluntary early retirement as part of an aggressive cost-savings plan being developed by Alberta Health Services.
Only staff whose positions are no longer required could take part in the program, but government critics say fewer staff -- and planned cuts of three per cent at hospitals run by Covenant Health, as well as long-term care centres --will inevitably mean care will suffer.
"It doesn't take a mathematician or an economist to know that reducing health-care workers in our public health-care system is the equivalent of reducing our health-care system," said Dave Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare. "This is a concerted effort to shrink the scope of our health-care system, of medicare, and Albertans will suffer for it."
But Stephen Duckett, CEO of Alberta Health Services, said the early retirement program, which has yet to be worked out with the unions but is available to all management and staff, is part of a plan to save the system$315 million. That's on top of the $650 million already saved through reducing duplications in payroll departments and bulk purchasing of medical supplies.
Duckett said every effort must be made to make sure any new cuts aren't felt on the front lines or by patients, but focus instead on efficiencies so that surgical and emergency waiting times can still be reduced.
"We want to make sure that where we are reducing the staff, we minimize the layoffs," Duckett said, noting he has no goal for how many health workers would take retirement packages. "Patient care is our first priority. We will have to make difficult decisions and choices to make sure that we can keep that our priority in the years ahead."
Currently, the health system faces a $1.3-billion deficit and has long surgical and emergency waiting times. It aims to have a balanced budget and reduced waiting times in three to four years. Part of those cost savings must focus on the workforce, since 70 per cent of the budget is spent on human resources, Duckett said.
He is also asking long-term care providers and partners such as Covenant Health, which runs the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals, to cut costs by three per cent starting Dec. 1, 2009.
Those two hospitals have already cut back the number of MRIs they perform because of budget overruns, forcing longer waiting times.
"Our organization will be looking to find ways to reduce costs and become more efficient while trying to minimize the reduction to patients and residents," said Patrick Dumelie, president and CEO of Covenant Health, the second-largest health services provider in Alberta. "It will be very, very challenging."
Covenant Health has already reduced overtime and left open vacant jobs.
"There's a high probability we're going to have to adjust the level of services that we provide," Dumelie said. "It's too early to say how we might do that, but again we'll be looking first to the efficiencies and then to where we might adjust how we deliver services."
Heather Smith, president of United Nurses of Alberta, which represents 24,000 nurses, said she suspects the early retirement program is a sugarcoated aim to cut staff by three per cent as well.
"It's an across-the-board budget cut," Smith said. She said the plan is completely contrary to years of work to recruit and retain nurses. Specialized programs were even set up in recent years to entice retired nurses back into the workforce, since hospitals, short hundreds of staff, were forced to cancel surgeries.
"The intent is to eliminate those jobs. This came totally out of the blue."
Patient care will suffer, say critics of voluntary plan
By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton JournalAugust 27, 2009 9:36 AMComments (32)
Nurses, laboratory technicians and other health professionals will be asked to take voluntary early retirement as part of an aggressive cost-savings plan being developed by Alberta Health Services.
Only staff whose positions are no longer required could take part in the program, but government critics say fewer staff -- and planned cuts of three per cent at hospitals run by Covenant Health, as well as long-term care centres --will inevitably mean care will suffer.
"It doesn't take a mathematician or an economist to know that reducing health-care workers in our public health-care system is the equivalent of reducing our health-care system," said Dave Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare. "This is a concerted effort to shrink the scope of our health-care system, of medicare, and Albertans will suffer for it."
But Stephen Duckett, CEO of Alberta Health Services, said the early retirement program, which has yet to be worked out with the unions but is available to all management and staff, is part of a plan to save the system$315 million. That's on top of the $650 million already saved through reducing duplications in payroll departments and bulk purchasing of medical supplies.
Duckett said every effort must be made to make sure any new cuts aren't felt on the front lines or by patients, but focus instead on efficiencies so that surgical and emergency waiting times can still be reduced.
"We want to make sure that where we are reducing the staff, we minimize the layoffs," Duckett said, noting he has no goal for how many health workers would take retirement packages. "Patient care is our first priority. We will have to make difficult decisions and choices to make sure that we can keep that our priority in the years ahead."
Currently, the health system faces a $1.3-billion deficit and has long surgical and emergency waiting times. It aims to have a balanced budget and reduced waiting times in three to four years. Part of those cost savings must focus on the workforce, since 70 per cent of the budget is spent on human resources, Duckett said.
He is also asking long-term care providers and partners such as Covenant Health, which runs the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals, to cut costs by three per cent starting Dec. 1, 2009.
Those two hospitals have already cut back the number of MRIs they perform because of budget overruns, forcing longer waiting times.
"Our organization will be looking to find ways to reduce costs and become more efficient while trying to minimize the reduction to patients and residents," said Patrick Dumelie, president and CEO of Covenant Health, the second-largest health services provider in Alberta. "It will be very, very challenging."
Covenant Health has already reduced overtime and left open vacant jobs.
"There's a high probability we're going to have to adjust the level of services that we provide," Dumelie said. "It's too early to say how we might do that, but again we'll be looking first to the efficiencies and then to where we might adjust how we deliver services."
Heather Smith, president of United Nurses of Alberta, which represents 24,000 nurses, said she suspects the early retirement program is a sugarcoated aim to cut staff by three per cent as well.
"It's an across-the-board budget cut," Smith said. She said the plan is completely contrary to years of work to recruit and retain nurses. Specialized programs were even set up in recent years to entice retired nurses back into the workforce, since hospitals, short hundreds of staff, were forced to cancel surgeries.
"The intent is to eliminate those jobs. This came totally out of the blue."
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Duckett shovels out jibberish to Albertans
Superboard plans to cut wait times
Skepticism greets CEO's speech due to health budget constraints
By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton JournalAugust 26, 2009 1:13 PMComments (12)
EDMONTON - Patients who need hospital beds after heading to emergency for care should see their waiting times cut in half in the next three years, says the boss of Alberta's health superboard.
"It can be done, but only if we move quickly and decisively," Stephen Duckett, CEO of Alberta Health Services, told the Rotary Club of Calgary on Tuesday, according to his speaking notes. "We cannot and should not be intimidated by the size of the challenge."
On the same day Premier Ed Stelmach talked about a $6.9-billion projected provincial deficit that critics say will inevitably cut into the health system, Duckett said waiting time targets for emergency visits and surgery will be published in the next few weeks. Current waiting times -- some of which Duckett described as unacceptable --will also be released in a quarterly report.
Alberta's wait-list registry, launched in 2003 to allow patients to compare waiting times between the old health regions for different procedures, such as hip replacements, has been out of commission since earlier this year. The recorded waiting times were inaccurate, a spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness said.
Patients who have had elective or cancer surgery postponed at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, or those experiencing burgeoning waits for MRIs at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals, all because of budget restrictions, haven't been able to find out how those waiting times compare.
Last November, Edmonton hospital patients had to wait 22 to 28 hours from the time they walked in to emergency doors to the time they were transferred out of the ER to a proper bed.
Dave Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, questioned how the province will reduce waiting times when the health region already faces an expected $1.1-billion deficit.
"Anything short of a magic act couldn't reduce actual wait times without increasing capacity throughout the acute-care system," Eggen said.
Commenting on Duckett's speech, Eggen said: "I don't know what he has in mind, but let's not pretend you can do it without building your actual capacity."
In his speech, Duckett said nurses will help bring down those waiting times by offering "discharge counselling" to patients after they've been treated by a doctor. They could arrange home-care assistance or a prescription, Duckett said.
Nurses could also help determine if the patient doesn't even need care in emergency, he said.
Waiting times will also be brought down over the winter months by implementing a free vaccination campaign against the H1N1 flu virus, Duckett said.
But he said while there may be a shift in the balance of hospital beds to community-based care--for example, the closure of mental health beds at Alberta Hospital Edmonton in favour of community-based programs-- patients will always come first, he said.
"No hospital spaces will be closed unless and until community-based beds and services are in place. Full stop. Period."
Stelmach echoed Duckett's remarks. He said the decision to abandon plans to renovate two old buildings at Alberta Hospital and replace closed beds with beds in the community reflect what people in the mental-health community want.
"In all honesty, let's start putting the patient first," Stelmach said. "I think many people would sooner live in a community-based (facility) as opposed to being institutionalized."
Eggen said that explanation doesn't work.
"Closing those beds is not a policy innovation, it's a cut," Eggen said. "Mr. Stelmach should refrain from being doctor, pretending his cuts are in the best interest to patients when he's talking about closing beds and putting people into the community."
Eggen said Duckett needs to stand up for public health.
"The temptation is very strong to cut and Mr. Duckett will get instructions to cut from the Alberta government. He needs to be ready for that and he needs to stand firm."
Stelmach wouldn't speculate how the projected deficit could affect upcoming contract negotiations with the nurses'union, but said nurses are a vital part of health delivery.
But Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman questioned how the province could negotiate an hourly fee for doctors who are to be part of the flu pandemic plan. The fee for an overnight shift could be $518 an hour.
"Where is that pot of money where they're able to pull that kind of money from?" Blakeman asked.
"I think what we're going to hear down the road is 'Sorry, we spent so much money on H1N1 that we're going to have to cut even more of your health services, and your deficit is going to be even higher in health care.' "
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Skepticism greets CEO's speech due to health budget constraints
By Jodie Sinnema, Edmonton JournalAugust 26, 2009 1:13 PMComments (12)
EDMONTON - Patients who need hospital beds after heading to emergency for care should see their waiting times cut in half in the next three years, says the boss of Alberta's health superboard.
"It can be done, but only if we move quickly and decisively," Stephen Duckett, CEO of Alberta Health Services, told the Rotary Club of Calgary on Tuesday, according to his speaking notes. "We cannot and should not be intimidated by the size of the challenge."
On the same day Premier Ed Stelmach talked about a $6.9-billion projected provincial deficit that critics say will inevitably cut into the health system, Duckett said waiting time targets for emergency visits and surgery will be published in the next few weeks. Current waiting times -- some of which Duckett described as unacceptable --will also be released in a quarterly report.
Alberta's wait-list registry, launched in 2003 to allow patients to compare waiting times between the old health regions for different procedures, such as hip replacements, has been out of commission since earlier this year. The recorded waiting times were inaccurate, a spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness said.
Patients who have had elective or cancer surgery postponed at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, or those experiencing burgeoning waits for MRIs at the Grey Nuns and Misericordia hospitals, all because of budget restrictions, haven't been able to find out how those waiting times compare.
Last November, Edmonton hospital patients had to wait 22 to 28 hours from the time they walked in to emergency doors to the time they were transferred out of the ER to a proper bed.
Dave Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, questioned how the province will reduce waiting times when the health region already faces an expected $1.1-billion deficit.
"Anything short of a magic act couldn't reduce actual wait times without increasing capacity throughout the acute-care system," Eggen said.
Commenting on Duckett's speech, Eggen said: "I don't know what he has in mind, but let's not pretend you can do it without building your actual capacity."
In his speech, Duckett said nurses will help bring down those waiting times by offering "discharge counselling" to patients after they've been treated by a doctor. They could arrange home-care assistance or a prescription, Duckett said.
Nurses could also help determine if the patient doesn't even need care in emergency, he said.
Waiting times will also be brought down over the winter months by implementing a free vaccination campaign against the H1N1 flu virus, Duckett said.
But he said while there may be a shift in the balance of hospital beds to community-based care--for example, the closure of mental health beds at Alberta Hospital Edmonton in favour of community-based programs-- patients will always come first, he said.
"No hospital spaces will be closed unless and until community-based beds and services are in place. Full stop. Period."
Stelmach echoed Duckett's remarks. He said the decision to abandon plans to renovate two old buildings at Alberta Hospital and replace closed beds with beds in the community reflect what people in the mental-health community want.
"In all honesty, let's start putting the patient first," Stelmach said. "I think many people would sooner live in a community-based (facility) as opposed to being institutionalized."
Eggen said that explanation doesn't work.
"Closing those beds is not a policy innovation, it's a cut," Eggen said. "Mr. Stelmach should refrain from being doctor, pretending his cuts are in the best interest to patients when he's talking about closing beds and putting people into the community."
Eggen said Duckett needs to stand up for public health.
"The temptation is very strong to cut and Mr. Duckett will get instructions to cut from the Alberta government. He needs to be ready for that and he needs to stand firm."
Stelmach wouldn't speculate how the projected deficit could affect upcoming contract negotiations with the nurses'union, but said nurses are a vital part of health delivery.
But Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman questioned how the province could negotiate an hourly fee for doctors who are to be part of the flu pandemic plan. The fee for an overnight shift could be $518 an hour.
"Where is that pot of money where they're able to pull that kind of money from?" Blakeman asked.
"I think what we're going to hear down the road is 'Sorry, we spent so much money on H1N1 that we're going to have to cut even more of your health services, and your deficit is going to be even higher in health care.' "
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Brave doctors - lets support them
Doctors oppose plan to close beds at Alberta Hospital
By Archie Mclean, Edmonton JournalAugust 18, 2009Comments (27)
Four psychiatrists at Alberta Hospital Edmonton are worried their mentally ill patients will end up on the streets or in jail if the province goes ahead with plans to close beds.
They said Monday the government is moving too quickly with plans to close 100 to 150 beds and hasn't properly consulted with caregivers and experts at the hospital.
"What motivates us out here is safe, proper, compassionate care for our patients," said Dr. Kevin Lawless, who works in the geriatric division. "If we can't respond as health-care providers, then these individuals may end up being redirected into jails and prisons."
Dr. Krista Leicht, who runs a provincewide program for developmentally handicapped people with psychiatric problems, said the former hospital patients "may also end up living in the inner city, on the streets. We're very fearful for the safety of our patients."
The doctors were reacting to an announcement Friday that the government is scrapping plans to redevelop the hospital and will eliminate the beds over the next one to three years.
Dr. Patrick White, the director of addiction and mental health at Alberta Health Services, said any money saved by not redeveloping the facility will be put into community care.
"I can tell you categorically that none of these patients are going to end up on the streets. These patients will be moving to appropriate accommodation in the community, otherwise they won't be moving at all."
Leicht and Lawless as well as Dr. Alberto Choy and Dr. Andrea Gambetti said they first heard the news early last week, but were assured they would have input into further decisions. That was the last they heard until the government made its announcement.
"We're a little shell-shocked," Lawless said.
While they all agree community care is important, it's not a substitute for acute-care beds. Clinical teams at the hospital move people into the community all the time, but when a patient is in a crisis, hospitalization is the only option.
"For the specialized programs we run here, we need the backup of these acute-care beds," Leicht said. "We all have huge wait lists, so we could probably make the argument that we need more beds."
They also expressed concern about the process leading up to the announcement. The government is wasting decades of expertise in mental health by not consulting them, they said.
Gambetti said similar scenarios have played out in other jurisdictions. Doctors are told resources will follow their patients into the community, but it never happens.
"This has led to increased criminalization of the mentally ill and the movement away from institutions, but toward what you could call mental-health ghettos in the inner city," Gambetti said.
Don Stewart, a spokesman with Alberta Health Services, said doctors will be a part of future consultations.
Stewart added that a patient's health and safety will be the most important consideration when deciding the type of care.
But Dave Eggen, the executive director of Friends of Medicare, said the doctors' concerns should carry more weight in decision-making.
"It's deeply cynical to make wholesale changes to mental health without consulting the professionals who provide that care."
The government is facing a $1.1-billion shortfall in health care, and Eggen and others say the move at Alberta Hospital is little more than a funding cut.
A nurse familiar with community care at Alberta Hospital also echoed the doctors' concerns. She said community support is not a substitute for hospital care, and accused the government of preying on society's weakest.
"These are the vulnerable, these are the people who can't speak up for themselves, people (the government) wishes didn't exist," said the nurse, who didn't want her name published because of Alberta Health Services' rules against her speaking publicly.
Even before Friday's announcement, Alberta had far fewer psychiatric beds than the national average.
A government-commissioned report by McDermott Consulting, which was leaked last spring to the Alberta NDP, found that in 2005 the province had about a quarter the national average of psychiatric beds.
Alberta Hospital currently has about 400 beds in total, roughly 120 of which are in the forensic section for people who are ordered by the courts to be there.
Austin Mardon, a local Order of Canada recipient who has schizophrenia, said people with chronic mental illness need hospital beds to "reboot" from time to time.
If the government does cut acute-care beds, it will be short-sighted, because preserving them could mean long-term savings in AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped), the criminal justice system and elsewhere.
"Mental health is always the orphan child of the health-care system."
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
By Archie Mclean, Edmonton JournalAugust 18, 2009Comments (27)
Four psychiatrists at Alberta Hospital Edmonton are worried their mentally ill patients will end up on the streets or in jail if the province goes ahead with plans to close beds.
They said Monday the government is moving too quickly with plans to close 100 to 150 beds and hasn't properly consulted with caregivers and experts at the hospital.
"What motivates us out here is safe, proper, compassionate care for our patients," said Dr. Kevin Lawless, who works in the geriatric division. "If we can't respond as health-care providers, then these individuals may end up being redirected into jails and prisons."
Dr. Krista Leicht, who runs a provincewide program for developmentally handicapped people with psychiatric problems, said the former hospital patients "may also end up living in the inner city, on the streets. We're very fearful for the safety of our patients."
The doctors were reacting to an announcement Friday that the government is scrapping plans to redevelop the hospital and will eliminate the beds over the next one to three years.
Dr. Patrick White, the director of addiction and mental health at Alberta Health Services, said any money saved by not redeveloping the facility will be put into community care.
"I can tell you categorically that none of these patients are going to end up on the streets. These patients will be moving to appropriate accommodation in the community, otherwise they won't be moving at all."
Leicht and Lawless as well as Dr. Alberto Choy and Dr. Andrea Gambetti said they first heard the news early last week, but were assured they would have input into further decisions. That was the last they heard until the government made its announcement.
"We're a little shell-shocked," Lawless said.
While they all agree community care is important, it's not a substitute for acute-care beds. Clinical teams at the hospital move people into the community all the time, but when a patient is in a crisis, hospitalization is the only option.
"For the specialized programs we run here, we need the backup of these acute-care beds," Leicht said. "We all have huge wait lists, so we could probably make the argument that we need more beds."
They also expressed concern about the process leading up to the announcement. The government is wasting decades of expertise in mental health by not consulting them, they said.
Gambetti said similar scenarios have played out in other jurisdictions. Doctors are told resources will follow their patients into the community, but it never happens.
"This has led to increased criminalization of the mentally ill and the movement away from institutions, but toward what you could call mental-health ghettos in the inner city," Gambetti said.
Don Stewart, a spokesman with Alberta Health Services, said doctors will be a part of future consultations.
Stewart added that a patient's health and safety will be the most important consideration when deciding the type of care.
But Dave Eggen, the executive director of Friends of Medicare, said the doctors' concerns should carry more weight in decision-making.
"It's deeply cynical to make wholesale changes to mental health without consulting the professionals who provide that care."
The government is facing a $1.1-billion shortfall in health care, and Eggen and others say the move at Alberta Hospital is little more than a funding cut.
A nurse familiar with community care at Alberta Hospital also echoed the doctors' concerns. She said community support is not a substitute for hospital care, and accused the government of preying on society's weakest.
"These are the vulnerable, these are the people who can't speak up for themselves, people (the government) wishes didn't exist," said the nurse, who didn't want her name published because of Alberta Health Services' rules against her speaking publicly.
Even before Friday's announcement, Alberta had far fewer psychiatric beds than the national average.
A government-commissioned report by McDermott Consulting, which was leaked last spring to the Alberta NDP, found that in 2005 the province had about a quarter the national average of psychiatric beds.
Alberta Hospital currently has about 400 beds in total, roughly 120 of which are in the forensic section for people who are ordered by the courts to be there.
Austin Mardon, a local Order of Canada recipient who has schizophrenia, said people with chronic mental illness need hospital beds to "reboot" from time to time.
If the government does cut acute-care beds, it will be short-sighted, because preserving them could mean long-term savings in AISH (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped), the criminal justice system and elsewhere.
"Mental health is always the orphan child of the health-care system."
© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Calgary Herald
Calgary gets $3.3M machine for cancer surgeries
By Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldAugust 11, 2009Comments (11)
The Calgary Health Trust announced Monday it has purchased the city's first da Vinci Robot, allowing local urologists to perform more prostate cancer surgeries with minimally invasive techniques. The machine, which will be installed at Rockyview General Hospital (pictured), will be the first Canadian facility with the latest version of the robot.
Photograph by: Archive, Calgary Herald
CALGARY - A new robotic surgical system will begin performing prostate cancer surgeries in Calgary next spring -- nearly three years after Edmonton's health system began operating two similar state-of-the art machines.
The Calgary Health Trust announced Monday it has purchased the city's first da Vinci Robot, allowing local urologists to perform more prostate cancer surgeries with minimally invasive techniques, which help reduce complications such as erectile dysfunction.
"It's a huge leap forward," said Dr. Gregory Kozak, a Calgary urologist. "Major U. S. studies show much better outcomes for patients after surgery with the robot."
The machine, which will be installed at Rockyview General Hospital, will be the first Canadian facility with the latest version of the robot.
But several other hospitals around the country--including two Edmonton facilities --have been operating older versions of the da Vinci Robot for years, leading to questions about why Calgary is only purchasing one now.
Prostate cancer patients often have quicker recovery times and fewer complications with the robot because the technology allows for smaller incisions and more precise operations than traditional surgery.
"I personally felt there was a bit of a discrepancy in treatment options (for Calgary and Edmonton)," said Robert Shiell, president of Prostaid Calgary, a support group for patients with prostate conditions.
"Previously, Calgary men who wanted this would have to travel to Edmonton."
Calgary urologists perform between 800 and 1,000 prostate cancer surgeries a year.
Both the Edmonton da Vinci Robots and the $3.3-million Calgary machine were purchased with donor funding.
Calgary Health Trust officials said Monday any wait has been worth it because the city will be getting the first robot of its kind in the country.
"This is the newest, the latest and greatest," said Pat Nelson, chief executive of the trust. "Calgary is a leader in going out and making things happen, even in tough times."
The debate follows a controversy about Alberta Health Services' decision earlier this summer not to buy a laser machine to treat enlarged prostates.
The only GreenLight Laser in Calgary, which was here as part of a two-year pilot project, nearly left the city before a private donor stepped in and agreed to pick up the tab so it could continue operating locally.
On Monday, public health-care advocates questioned why the provincial government isn't buying the da Vinci Robot and technology like the GreenLight laser.
"There's a disturbing trend in this province and elsewhere to rely on charity to provide essential health services," said Dave Eggen of Friends of Medicare.
"It's confusing the way by which essential health services should be bought and paid for."
Eggen argued the province's medical superboard, which is facing a $1.1-billion deficit this year, couldn't afford to buy the robot for Calgary, despite the benefits it will bring to patients.
But a spokesman for Alberta Health Services said charitable organizations like the Calgary Health Trust assist the health system by purchasing technology that enriches medical care.
"We're grateful to them for that," said Mark Kastner.
In addition to treating prostate cancer, the da Vinci Robot can perform several other minimally invasive surgeries, such as hysterectomy and heart valve repair.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
By Michelle Lang, Calgary HeraldAugust 11, 2009Comments (11)
The Calgary Health Trust announced Monday it has purchased the city's first da Vinci Robot, allowing local urologists to perform more prostate cancer surgeries with minimally invasive techniques. The machine, which will be installed at Rockyview General Hospital (pictured), will be the first Canadian facility with the latest version of the robot.
Photograph by: Archive, Calgary Herald
CALGARY - A new robotic surgical system will begin performing prostate cancer surgeries in Calgary next spring -- nearly three years after Edmonton's health system began operating two similar state-of-the art machines.
The Calgary Health Trust announced Monday it has purchased the city's first da Vinci Robot, allowing local urologists to perform more prostate cancer surgeries with minimally invasive techniques, which help reduce complications such as erectile dysfunction.
"It's a huge leap forward," said Dr. Gregory Kozak, a Calgary urologist. "Major U. S. studies show much better outcomes for patients after surgery with the robot."
The machine, which will be installed at Rockyview General Hospital, will be the first Canadian facility with the latest version of the robot.
But several other hospitals around the country--including two Edmonton facilities --have been operating older versions of the da Vinci Robot for years, leading to questions about why Calgary is only purchasing one now.
Prostate cancer patients often have quicker recovery times and fewer complications with the robot because the technology allows for smaller incisions and more precise operations than traditional surgery.
"I personally felt there was a bit of a discrepancy in treatment options (for Calgary and Edmonton)," said Robert Shiell, president of Prostaid Calgary, a support group for patients with prostate conditions.
"Previously, Calgary men who wanted this would have to travel to Edmonton."
Calgary urologists perform between 800 and 1,000 prostate cancer surgeries a year.
Both the Edmonton da Vinci Robots and the $3.3-million Calgary machine were purchased with donor funding.
Calgary Health Trust officials said Monday any wait has been worth it because the city will be getting the first robot of its kind in the country.
"This is the newest, the latest and greatest," said Pat Nelson, chief executive of the trust. "Calgary is a leader in going out and making things happen, even in tough times."
The debate follows a controversy about Alberta Health Services' decision earlier this summer not to buy a laser machine to treat enlarged prostates.
The only GreenLight Laser in Calgary, which was here as part of a two-year pilot project, nearly left the city before a private donor stepped in and agreed to pick up the tab so it could continue operating locally.
On Monday, public health-care advocates questioned why the provincial government isn't buying the da Vinci Robot and technology like the GreenLight laser.
"There's a disturbing trend in this province and elsewhere to rely on charity to provide essential health services," said Dave Eggen of Friends of Medicare.
"It's confusing the way by which essential health services should be bought and paid for."
Eggen argued the province's medical superboard, which is facing a $1.1-billion deficit this year, couldn't afford to buy the robot for Calgary, despite the benefits it will bring to patients.
But a spokesman for Alberta Health Services said charitable organizations like the Calgary Health Trust assist the health system by purchasing technology that enriches medical care.
"We're grateful to them for that," said Mark Kastner.
In addition to treating prostate cancer, the da Vinci Robot can perform several other minimally invasive surgeries, such as hysterectomy and heart valve repair.
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Monday, August 10, 2009
Pincher Creek Echo
Medicare has many friends in Pincher Creek
Posted By Jocelyn Mercer
Posted 3 days ago
By Jocelyn Mercer
Editor
Around 100 people, mostly seniors, turned out for a public forum on the state of public health care, in Pincher Creek last Wednesday.
David Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, was in the community as part of a provincial tour, to speak on the privatization of health care in Alberta.
Eggen is concerned that the provincial government is taking steps to slowly privatize public health care, making it more inaccessible to people on fixed incomes.
“We’re not opposed to change. We know that nothing good ever stays the same,” said Eggen. However, he said, changes currently proposed by the provincial government were putting public health care at risk.
Eggen says the dissolution of regional health boards around the province to make way for one super board has led to a lot of changes within Alberta’s health care system.
“It’s a question of integrity, it’s a question of honesty,” said Eggen.
He points to recent claims from the Super board’s chief administrative officer and provincial health minister that the nursing shortage is over.
“We all know the nursing shortage in Alberta is not over. It’s not over in Canada,” says Eggen.
He says he’s also concerned about the recent dismissal of outspoken Fort McMurray MLA Guy Boutilier. Eggen says he was kicked out of caucus for being too vocal with his concerns over funding delays for a long-term care facility in Fort McMurray.
Seniors health care is a growing issue in the province, says Eggen, particularly in rural areas.
“Pincher Creek has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first locations to remove its long-term care facility,” he said.
Eggen believes, that long-term care for seniors should be provided through health care, not in private facilities.
“There’s no difference between a senior in need of long-term care and someone who’s broken their leg,” said, referring to the fact that both should be financed by the Canadian health care system.
Private long-term care facilities are subject to less regulation and can charge patients more, says Eggen.
“They’re trying to move people out of the public facility into the private facility. There’s no more public long-term care facilities in Pincher Creek,” he said.
Another major concern of Eggens and the Friends of Medicare is the provincial mandate to cut $1.1 billion from the health care budget.
“We have to remember the basic idea of why public health care was created in the first place. It was created and conceived in a time of great poverty,” he said.
So despite Alberta’s prosperity, he says, government is still dragging its feet over spending.
What’s alarming for Eggen is that if Alberta proceeds down the privatization route, health care will end up costing people more.
Currently the province spends between four and six per cent of Gross Domestic Product on health care. The US, with private health care spends considerably more at 16.5 per cent of GDP.
Private health care costs more, is less equal and is badly regulated, argues Eggen.
“Our membership has never been larger,” said Eggen of the Friends of Medicare organization, as he urged Pincher Creek residents to start petitioning their MLAs to stop the province’s cutbacks on health care.
“The most valuable thing you own, besides your house maybe, is your health care card,” he added.
Posted By Jocelyn Mercer
Posted 3 days ago
By Jocelyn Mercer
Editor
Around 100 people, mostly seniors, turned out for a public forum on the state of public health care, in Pincher Creek last Wednesday.
David Eggen, executive director of Friends of Medicare, was in the community as part of a provincial tour, to speak on the privatization of health care in Alberta.
Eggen is concerned that the provincial government is taking steps to slowly privatize public health care, making it more inaccessible to people on fixed incomes.
“We’re not opposed to change. We know that nothing good ever stays the same,” said Eggen. However, he said, changes currently proposed by the provincial government were putting public health care at risk.
Eggen says the dissolution of regional health boards around the province to make way for one super board has led to a lot of changes within Alberta’s health care system.
“It’s a question of integrity, it’s a question of honesty,” said Eggen.
He points to recent claims from the Super board’s chief administrative officer and provincial health minister that the nursing shortage is over.
“We all know the nursing shortage in Alberta is not over. It’s not over in Canada,” says Eggen.
He says he’s also concerned about the recent dismissal of outspoken Fort McMurray MLA Guy Boutilier. Eggen says he was kicked out of caucus for being too vocal with his concerns over funding delays for a long-term care facility in Fort McMurray.
Seniors health care is a growing issue in the province, says Eggen, particularly in rural areas.
“Pincher Creek has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first locations to remove its long-term care facility,” he said.
Eggen believes, that long-term care for seniors should be provided through health care, not in private facilities.
“There’s no difference between a senior in need of long-term care and someone who’s broken their leg,” said, referring to the fact that both should be financed by the Canadian health care system.
Private long-term care facilities are subject to less regulation and can charge patients more, says Eggen.
“They’re trying to move people out of the public facility into the private facility. There’s no more public long-term care facilities in Pincher Creek,” he said.
Another major concern of Eggens and the Friends of Medicare is the provincial mandate to cut $1.1 billion from the health care budget.
“We have to remember the basic idea of why public health care was created in the first place. It was created and conceived in a time of great poverty,” he said.
So despite Alberta’s prosperity, he says, government is still dragging its feet over spending.
What’s alarming for Eggen is that if Alberta proceeds down the privatization route, health care will end up costing people more.
Currently the province spends between four and six per cent of Gross Domestic Product on health care. The US, with private health care spends considerably more at 16.5 per cent of GDP.
Private health care costs more, is less equal and is badly regulated, argues Eggen.
“Our membership has never been larger,” said Eggen of the Friends of Medicare organization, as he urged Pincher Creek residents to start petitioning their MLAs to stop the province’s cutbacks on health care.
“The most valuable thing you own, besides your house maybe, is your health care card,” he added.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Peace River Gazette
Groups to form Peace Region health care coalition
Posted 7 days ago
By Michelle Higgins
Community groups from around the Peace Region are forming a new health-care coalition and planning their first meeting for mid-August.
Groups from Peace River are encouraged to attend, said coalition secretary and spokesperson Andony Melathopoulos.
The non-partisan Peace River Health Coalition aims to advocate for the protection and expansion of health services in the Alberta Peace Region and seek more democratic control over regional health decisions.
It was formed after about 40 health care advocates from around the Peace Region came together in Grande Prairie last weekend, and will be formalized after participants return to their communities and get endorsement to join.
Melathopoulos said people at the meeting were concerned that Alberta Health Services (AHS) was not hearing the concerns of their communities.
Last April, Alberta disbanded its nine regional health authorities, including Peace Country Health, bringing them all under the administration of AHS.
“There were various groups around the Peace that were trying to bring to attention some of the problems that were happening across health care,” Melathopoulos said. “We were all working separately and we called meeting together to see if there was some common ground where we could work.”
Groups at the meeting included Friends of the Beaverlodge Hospital, of which Melathopoulos is a member, the Smoky River and District Health Task Force and the Central Peace Health Council.
Mental health care concerns, lack of long-term care spaces and rural doctor recruitment were among the issues raised frequently at the meeting, Melathopoulos said.
The coalition “allows us to focus on a campaign where we can bring to Alberta Health Services’ attention the size and scale and nature of the (various) deficiencies.”
There were no groups from the town of Peace River at Saturday’s meeting, but Melathopoulos would like to see representatives from the area at the meeting in August.
“We know these issues exist in Peace River, and we’re really looking for people in Peace River to contact us so we can start to bring their specific concerns to the table as we organize,” Melathopoulos said.
For more information, contact Melathopoulos at 780-296-0732 or methalopoulos@yahoo.ca.
Posted 7 days ago
By Michelle Higgins
Community groups from around the Peace Region are forming a new health-care coalition and planning their first meeting for mid-August.
Groups from Peace River are encouraged to attend, said coalition secretary and spokesperson Andony Melathopoulos.
The non-partisan Peace River Health Coalition aims to advocate for the protection and expansion of health services in the Alberta Peace Region and seek more democratic control over regional health decisions.
It was formed after about 40 health care advocates from around the Peace Region came together in Grande Prairie last weekend, and will be formalized after participants return to their communities and get endorsement to join.
Melathopoulos said people at the meeting were concerned that Alberta Health Services (AHS) was not hearing the concerns of their communities.
Last April, Alberta disbanded its nine regional health authorities, including Peace Country Health, bringing them all under the administration of AHS.
“There were various groups around the Peace that were trying to bring to attention some of the problems that were happening across health care,” Melathopoulos said. “We were all working separately and we called meeting together to see if there was some common ground where we could work.”
Groups at the meeting included Friends of the Beaverlodge Hospital, of which Melathopoulos is a member, the Smoky River and District Health Task Force and the Central Peace Health Council.
Mental health care concerns, lack of long-term care spaces and rural doctor recruitment were among the issues raised frequently at the meeting, Melathopoulos said.
The coalition “allows us to focus on a campaign where we can bring to Alberta Health Services’ attention the size and scale and nature of the (various) deficiencies.”
There were no groups from the town of Peace River at Saturday’s meeting, but Melathopoulos would like to see representatives from the area at the meeting in August.
“We know these issues exist in Peace River, and we’re really looking for people in Peace River to contact us so we can start to bring their specific concerns to the table as we organize,” Melathopoulos said.
For more information, contact Melathopoulos at 780-296-0732 or methalopoulos@yahoo.ca.
Smoky River Express
Susan Thompson
Over 40 health care advocates met in Grande Prairie on July 20 and agreed to form a coalition to advocate for the protection and expansion of public health services in the Peace. The meeting featured a round-table discussion moderated by David Eggen, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. “All the people at the meeting on Saturday could identify with a significant health care issue in their community that had started to bend under the strain of neglect,” said coalition spokesperson and Secretary Andony Melathopoulos. “Some specific situations include the dismal state of the Grande Prairie Care Centre, the frustrated efforts to recruit much-needed rural physicians to Smoky River and district, and the failure to follow through with commitments to replace both the Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge hospitals.” Other common concerns included the shortage of long-term care beds, lack of resources for mental health care and seniors advocacy, and difficulty retaining health care professionals. Three community groups made presentations, including the Friends of the Beaverlodge Hospital, the Central Peace Health Council and the Smoky River and District Health Task Force. The latter two groups were created after the government decided to disband Alberta’s 59 community health councils and replace them with 12 health advisory councils. The former community health councils in the McLennan and Spirit River areas both decided to continue meeting under new names, in hopes of ensuring local and rural issues continue to be heard by the government. “There has been a big shift in how health services are being managed in the province. We have gone from an elected health board with community health councils, to a single appointed board with a much more consolidated advisory council. There is a real danger that the specific health care needs of communities in the Peace will not be registered in this shift; we risk losing some very important parts of our local health care system,” said Melathopoulos. The new coalition hopes to strengthen the voice of communities in the Peace by consolidating the efforts of everyone currently working and advocating for improved health care. For its part, the Smoky River Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee also met last week to plan its future actions after two doctors the committee had recruited were told they couldn’t practice in the area. Dr. Cheddie and Dr. Singh, a husband and wife team, had been expected to practice medicine in McLennan, Slave Lake, and High Prairie. But Alberta Health Services (AHS) decided not to allow the doctors to practice in those areas. The recruitment committee sent a letter to President and CEO of AHS Dr. Stephen Duckett asking for clarification as to why the doctors were told to go somewhere else, and received a faxed reply on July 16. “We’re very happy because we got a swift response back,” said Myrna Lanctot, chair of the recruitment committee. “But we remain disappointed the doctors are not able to come to our community.” In their faxed response, AHS said at this time it wasn’t clear to them that there was a sufficient fee for service income to support both of the doctors recruited. The health authority grants, or does not grant, physicians “privileges” that govern their ability to access the services of a health care facility, such as operating room privileges. Physicians then operate on a “fee for service” basis. They must also cover their own overhead costs and generate a profit based on the fees they earn in their practice, meaning they are more like small businesses than employees. So while doctors are not really “hired,” in order to admit patients to hospital or perform surgeries there, they need to be granted privileges by AHS to use local public health care facilities. AHS did confirm in its faxed response that physician recruitment is still taking place across the province, and said that community involvement in recruitment is still important. “Our committee will keep working with AHS to determine how their recruitment and our own will work best together,” said Lanctot. “We know more services can provide local and rural hospital sites with a better quality of life. [AHS does] recognize there is a need for overall service delivery throughout the north zone.” The recruitment committee will continue looking for physicians to fill the local community’s needs. The committee is also writing a response to the fax thanking AHS for its response, and hopes the exchange of letters is opening the door to more frequent, clear communication with the new provincial superboard. But coalition spokesperson Melathopoulos said the confusion over physician recruitment in the Smoky River district is a symptom of the need for a stronger local voice on health issues. “This is a perfect example of how the failure of have a local voice at the table will end up costing our communities a lot of wasted time, and will ultimately make the health system less effective and more costly to operate. The coalition is a vehicle for making sure this voice gets heard,” he said. The new coalition will meet for the first time in August, and is currently seeking board members. Coalition members expect to prepare a public education and lobbying campaign to be launched in September.
Over 40 health care advocates met in Grande Prairie on July 20 and agreed to form a coalition to advocate for the protection and expansion of public health services in the Peace. The meeting featured a round-table discussion moderated by David Eggen, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. “All the people at the meeting on Saturday could identify with a significant health care issue in their community that had started to bend under the strain of neglect,” said coalition spokesperson and Secretary Andony Melathopoulos. “Some specific situations include the dismal state of the Grande Prairie Care Centre, the frustrated efforts to recruit much-needed rural physicians to Smoky River and district, and the failure to follow through with commitments to replace both the Grande Prairie and Beaverlodge hospitals.” Other common concerns included the shortage of long-term care beds, lack of resources for mental health care and seniors advocacy, and difficulty retaining health care professionals. Three community groups made presentations, including the Friends of the Beaverlodge Hospital, the Central Peace Health Council and the Smoky River and District Health Task Force. The latter two groups were created after the government decided to disband Alberta’s 59 community health councils and replace them with 12 health advisory councils. The former community health councils in the McLennan and Spirit River areas both decided to continue meeting under new names, in hopes of ensuring local and rural issues continue to be heard by the government. “There has been a big shift in how health services are being managed in the province. We have gone from an elected health board with community health councils, to a single appointed board with a much more consolidated advisory council. There is a real danger that the specific health care needs of communities in the Peace will not be registered in this shift; we risk losing some very important parts of our local health care system,” said Melathopoulos. The new coalition hopes to strengthen the voice of communities in the Peace by consolidating the efforts of everyone currently working and advocating for improved health care. For its part, the Smoky River Regional Physician Recruitment and Retention Committee also met last week to plan its future actions after two doctors the committee had recruited were told they couldn’t practice in the area. Dr. Cheddie and Dr. Singh, a husband and wife team, had been expected to practice medicine in McLennan, Slave Lake, and High Prairie. But Alberta Health Services (AHS) decided not to allow the doctors to practice in those areas. The recruitment committee sent a letter to President and CEO of AHS Dr. Stephen Duckett asking for clarification as to why the doctors were told to go somewhere else, and received a faxed reply on July 16. “We’re very happy because we got a swift response back,” said Myrna Lanctot, chair of the recruitment committee. “But we remain disappointed the doctors are not able to come to our community.” In their faxed response, AHS said at this time it wasn’t clear to them that there was a sufficient fee for service income to support both of the doctors recruited. The health authority grants, or does not grant, physicians “privileges” that govern their ability to access the services of a health care facility, such as operating room privileges. Physicians then operate on a “fee for service” basis. They must also cover their own overhead costs and generate a profit based on the fees they earn in their practice, meaning they are more like small businesses than employees. So while doctors are not really “hired,” in order to admit patients to hospital or perform surgeries there, they need to be granted privileges by AHS to use local public health care facilities. AHS did confirm in its faxed response that physician recruitment is still taking place across the province, and said that community involvement in recruitment is still important. “Our committee will keep working with AHS to determine how their recruitment and our own will work best together,” said Lanctot. “We know more services can provide local and rural hospital sites with a better quality of life. [AHS does] recognize there is a need for overall service delivery throughout the north zone.” The recruitment committee will continue looking for physicians to fill the local community’s needs. The committee is also writing a response to the fax thanking AHS for its response, and hopes the exchange of letters is opening the door to more frequent, clear communication with the new provincial superboard. But coalition spokesperson Melathopoulos said the confusion over physician recruitment in the Smoky River district is a symptom of the need for a stronger local voice on health issues. “This is a perfect example of how the failure of have a local voice at the table will end up costing our communities a lot of wasted time, and will ultimately make the health system less effective and more costly to operate. The coalition is a vehicle for making sure this voice gets heard,” he said. The new coalition will meet for the first time in August, and is currently seeking board members. Coalition members expect to prepare a public education and lobbying campaign to be launched in September.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
CTV story on Fort McMurray Long Term Care
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