Facing Reality on Health Care

There was a piece on last night's TV news about a woman who was appalled that her elderly father, who had recently suffered a heart attack was placed in the hall of the Rockyview Hospital because there were no rooms available at that moment.  The officials she talked to were very sympathetic, but told her that was the norm in Alberta's health care system. 

This problem has existed for a considerable length of time.  While hospitals like Calgary's Rockyview General Hospital haven't been at full capacity for a while now, certain areas do back up.  Those back-ups in some wards require patients to be placed in the hallways until space in a room opens up.

My recent stint (albeit short) in that same Rockyview hospital showed me that the hospital staff are working as hard as they can with the resources they have to give excellent care to all patients.  Unfortunately, their facility frequently lets them down!

I can hear it now:  "Let's all blame Rachel Notley and her NDP government for this major screw-up!"  

Hey, not so fast!

It wasn't the NDP government who closed numerous hospitals around the province.
It wasn't the NDP government who blew up one of the biggest hospital complexes in Alberta!
It wasn't the NDP government who played membership roulette with the Alberta Health Services board,  (Remember the famous "cookie monster," Stephen Duckett?)

The NDP inherited this screw-up from the previous government that was in power for more than 40 years.  What disturbs me is that the present government appears oblivious to the problem!  They talk platitudes and promises, but nothing else happens.

If you've read my blog for any length of time you'll know that I have been vocal about the creation of a full hospital in the city of Airdrie.  Yes, it will be expensive, and,
Yes, the province is in a financial crunch right now; but the health system in Airdrie is only going to get worse!

Let's not blame Premier Notley and her NDP government for this current health mess.  Let's make her government start focussing on solutions to these problems before it's too late!

I'm Back!

I'm sure that you know that I'm back home now from the hospital.  My son Rhys has tried to keep everyone informed. 

My surgery was a complete success and I should be back  to normal (or my version of normal) in about three weeks.

I would like to again thank the surgical staff and the staff of Nursing Unit #82 at the Rockyview Hospital in Calgary.  Those folks work so very hard doing what they do so very well!  For a while I felt a little guilty for my constant and unrelenting criticism of Alberta's severely broken health care system.

Then I realized that those hard working, dedicated folks at the Rockyview are not where the problems lie!  Those people are working so very hard to keep the sinking health care ship afloat.  We need to support them, and help them in any way we can to get those higher up in the health care system to realize what's going on and to start moving toward fixing it!

Thank you to all those who sent me their best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Those wishes meant a lot to me!

Shout Out to Alberta Health Services

Over the past three weeks, I have had to visit Alberta Health Services facilities on numerous occasions. 

Here's a shout out to the folks at the Drumheller Hospital Emergency Department and the Airdrie Home Care Clinic for the fantastic job they're doing to keep Albertans safe and healthy. 

I fear that some of the recent criticism of Alberta's health services has rubbed off on these hard working people.  These folks on the front line are going above and beyond to provide Albertans with the best health care possible!  Good on ya!

Ears Bitten on Airdrie Health Care

An old cowboy will tell you that if you've got a green horse or one that's a bit wild and you want to get up into its saddle you get a helper to bite the horse's ear.  The theory being, that the bite on the ear will distract the horse's attention from what's really happening.  After the rider is safely in the saddle the helper will let go of the horse's ear and make a run for the fence;  the rider is on his own!

I fear that the good people of Airdrie are having their ears bitten.  All this rhetoric about creating only a "24 hour health care" facility is distracting the good people of Airdrie from what should be the goal; getting a full fledged hospital in that great little city! 

Getting a 24-hour health care facility is obvious and should start to happen within the next few months.  Getting the hospital will take much longer.

We need a regional association, created to keep pushing for that hospital!  As mentioned on this blog, before, it took Vaughan, Ontario more than thirty years to finally get the province to listen and get a real hospital built.  We can't wait that long!