Alberta health care:  A rant from the front line

Alberta, the richest province in Canada, “ …. recognizes that Albertans want and deserve an excellent health care system that will be strong and sustainable for the future.” so says the Speech from the Throne. However, since the budget’s release in April, health related announcements have moved from the ridiculous to the unconscionable, and are now darn right depressing.

This is how some funds designated for the delivery of health care services are being spent. A few months ago, our Conservative government, under the guidance of Premier Ed Stelmach, dissolved all six Regional Health Boards in Alberta and created one Superboard called Alberta Health Services. This was done to better manage the budget deficits incurred by the previous regional boards. Many management positions were eliminated and millions of dollars were spent on severance packages. The former Calgary Health Region CEO received no less than $5,000,000 (that’s right, count the zeros …five million dollars and rumour has it that it was closer to $7 million!). I guess he was “laughing all the way to the bank” – too bad the joke’s on us.

Wasting no time, Alberta Health Services – voted themselves a 25 per cent raise. This amidst indications that health care jobs and wage cuts could be expected in the next couple of years … again. Are we not short of healthcare workers at every level? In mid January there was a front-page article about the number of nurses the Calgary Health Region has hired in the last while. Bragging rights by the Region of about 1000 new nursing staff in Alberta, but no mention was made of the hundreds of nurses lost to stress, illness, retirement and moves out of province as spousal job losses occurred. And who is replacing the nurses? Does the public know that the “nurses “ at the bedside in acute care are not necessarily RNs or licensed practical nurses? They LOOK like nurses, but they are Personal Care Attendants, with a few hours training received in part-time study (evenings and weekends) for a total of 21 days. Scary? You bet! There still is and forever will be a nursing shortage if health care continues on its projected path of wage and job reductions while health funding follows the swollen ranks of health administration.

“We Are One”. What does this mean to consumers and healthcare workers? And who really cares? When employees received their payslips last week, guess what else they got? New lanyards that say “Alberta Health Services We Are One”. All workers have lanyards (thingies to wear around the neck with ID badges attached); we’ve had two or three since former Premier “Ralph” was in power. How do they 'help' health care delivery?

So who are these Superboard members and how does one become a member? No one seems to know when the positions were posted or where. Many want a piece of the action. Think about it: If you are not happy with your salary, you vote yourself and your buddies a raise - no union negotiating, no sleepless nights over possible wage rollbacks or being bumped into positions you have no expertise or experience in, AND it doesn’t matter whether you are doing a great job either!

We may not know what the Board has been doing in the past year, but we see the results. Emergency admission wait times are 16 to 18 hours, joint replacements are being cancelled due to staff shortages, cataract surgery wait lists are lengthening because government purchase of these procedures at private surgical facilities have been cut by two-thirds (and only those who are close to blindness are receiving site-saving surgery; those with mild or moderate vision loss can wait until they are completely blind!) Who are these people making all these decisions? Are they consulting the front line people or the patients seeking medical assistance? No they are not. Maybe they should follow Obama’s lead and have regular press conferences to inform the people of their indecent decisions on the utilization of scarce health care resources. We need transparency.

Consider this. Coverage for expensive, life-changing and life-saving drugs continues to be an uphill battle. After waiting many weeks or months for appointments, diagnostic testing, discussions regarding treatment options, and finally being offered medication that might make a difference, the a myriad of paper work begins. The Special Authority request from the specialist who has outlined the rationale/justification for a specific drug is received by someone in the higher echelons of health care administration. The all-important decision for drug approval/funding is made by a person who has never laid eyes on the patient, doesn't understand the disease or need for this medication, and in many instances denies the request. If a request is approved, Albertans can only get a one-month supply. It used to be that we could pick up three months worth at a time, but not now; let’s spend our precious energy reserve on making more frequent trips to the drugstore, spending more of our disability income sometimes as high as $25.00 for each renewal (of course, our cocktail of medications never run out at the same time!), and finally, spending more to put gas in the car.

Alberta health care needs an overhaul that examines the waste in the system and looks at efficiencies. The people who are affected by decisions should help make the decisions. That's us. We are consumers of health care, the people who use and know the system. We've learned the hard way and we're experts. Our input is important. We must report our experiences to government and provide ideas for improvement. And we must report over and over and over until we are heard.