Camrose News
By Laurie Callsen / Camrose Canadian
Posted 21 hours ago


Laurie Callsen

Camrose Canadian


Friends of Medicare were in Camrose last week to voice concerns on our provincial health care system's future.

David Eggen and Noel Somerville spoke on the current state of Alberta Health Care and how the new Alberta Health Act (Bill 17) will affect seniors.

Somerville, who is the chairman of the Seniors' Task Force for Public Interest Alberta, wants people to be aware of the pending changes to the Alberta health care system.


Somerville said Bill 17 was first brought up by Ron Leipert near the end of his term as Minister of Health, and was supported by Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett. According to Somerville, Duckett finds the Nursing Home Act – which requires registered Nurses to work in nursing homes – too restrictive and wants the act changed.

"Can you think just how restrictive that is if you're trying to run a health care system on the cheap?"

Somerville said that the Nursing Home Act is the only law in Alberta that requires 1.9 hours of care per patient, and that 22% of that care has to be administered by a registered nurse.

If Bill 17 is enacted, the Nursing Home Act may not be consolidated into the new Alberta Health Act.

Eggen added in his speech, that health care is not something we should cheap out on.



"The very first thing people say, and they say it over and over again, is that health care costs too much money now. It's eating up the budget and we can't afford a public health system anymore, we have to change the way we do things.

"I say yes, we do need to change, but let's take a look at just how much of the budget health care is eating and is it truly unaffordable anyway."

Alberta spends about three to five per cent of its budget on health care – an average for about 20 years. The health care budget isn't big because the slice of the pie has grown; instead, it's because the rest of the budget is shrinking. There's been an increase in the population by one million, but there's half as many beds as there were 20 years ago.

"Of course health care is expensive, but we have the best quality health care available for ourselves and our families. We want to ensure that we are investing in the future too. It's not something Albertans and Canadians would choose to skimp on if ever we were asked."

Eggen cautioned against the thought that Alberta should have a private and public health care system. Currently, Alberta's health care services are about 70% public and 30% private. Some sectors, like physiotherapy, have slipped from public to private over the years.

Eggen said that while some people say 'I have the money, let me pay for my health care', it doesn't mean the health care venues will work the same way.

Some clinics that allow private care also ask for public funding, or 'double-dipping' as Eggen called it. At the Pro-Vital clinic in Calgary, there is a $4,000 admission fee – which also includes free parking and coffee.

"That's all fine and dandy, but they're taking that $4,000 out of your pocket and they're also billing the Alberta government for the public services they provide inside," said Eggen.

A similar trend is seen in the senior's health system. Somerville said the government is very happy to build continuing care facilities, as long as they don't require a nursing staff. Somerville said that he has spoken to Premier Ed Stelmach about this problem, with little results.

"When I pointed out the lack of long-term care facilities in this province, he (Stelmach) said 'Do you know how much a registered nurse costs the employer these days? … It's about $100,000. This government thinks that it is too expensive to provide nursing care in nursing homes," said Somerville.

At the end of their speeches, both men encouraged the crowd to keep engaged on what was happening in the legislature regarding health care.

"Public health care is a good thing to fight for. It's a good way to build community and to learn about the value of the public good in general.

"Once you learn about the value of pubic health care, you realize the value of other things we hold together as a community, province and nation," said Eggen.

Article ID# 2858624