Little Things

It's the little things in life that make me smile...or frown.  Here are a few.

I smiled when I read stories about Syrian refugees learning to be Canadians.  They're going to the Stampede, they're learning about Canadian football, they're learning to skate.  They're taking English classes.  They're working hard to become Canadians, like the rest of us had to do when we (or our ancestors) came to this, the greatest country on Earth!

I smiled when I see folks dressed in green and wearing watermelons on their heads or with red painted faces with a galloping horse on it heading for a Canadian football game.  That's what I call Fan Loyalty.  Fantastic!

I smiled when I see young kids experimenting and playing with scientific apparatus at the annual Beakerhead Festival in Calgary.  The only way you can engage our highly talented group of youngsters with science is to show them it can be a lot of fun!

I smiled when I heard that Airdrie's Urgent Care facility will operate 24 hours a day hopefully after the end of September.  In my opinion, having that clinic close each night at 10:00 p.m. was pretty ludicrous, considering Airdrie now has a population of more than 60,000!  I'm hoping this will be the first step in Airdrie getting its much needed hospital!

I frowned when I read that two students enrolled in an openly non-denominational school demanded to have a place and be able to pray during school hours.  The school advertises that it is openly non-denominational and discourages any outward display of any religion because it wants its students to concentrate on their studies during school hours.  The students won the right to pray in that school.

I frowned when I heard that the old Rafter Six Lodge was demolished a few days ago.  Parts of the lodge were probably less than 50 years old but it was a beautiful structure reminiscent of the old log structures built here over a hundred years ago.  I assume the new owners had no idea of its historical and cultural value.

I frowned when I heard that the province was no longer sending out vehicle and drivers' licence renewal notices.  Instead they have allowed the authorities to levy hefty fines for those who didn't renew on time and they have employed an American company to send out telephone robo-calls to remind us!

I frown every time I look out my back window on the huge mess that used to be the Bassano Station.  I frown even deeper when I realize again that there is nothing the village can do to  force the mystic railway museum or Alberta TrailNet to clean up that mess!

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!

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!

Hospital Lessons from Vaughan, Ontario

While pushing for a real hospital in the city of Airdrie, I've been yipping on about that city being the largest city in Canada without a hospital.  I was wrong!

That dubious distinction belongs to the City of Vaughan, Ontario, located outside Toronto.  It's now a city of around 300,000 - and they still don't have a hospital!  The Ontario provincial government has been telling the good folks of Vaughan that they don't really need a hospital.  Because hospitals cost a fortune to build!  And after all, Toronto is just down the road -- and they have hospitals.  This discussion has been going on for years now.

Vaughan was a small city of less than 50,000 only 30 years ago.  It was (and is) one of the fastest-growing communities in Ontario.  But a number of Ontario governments said a hospital would be too expensive for such a small place!  Nothing happened. 

Now they're coming up on 300,000 residents, and the Ontario government is saying, "Holy crap, they need a hospital!  Why didn't anybody tell us?"

Does this whole story remind you of another small city just outside Calgary, with a similar story to tell?

The good news is that I understand  the new Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is now under construction and will be completed in a couple of years.  But its total cost will be be much higher than it would have been had they built it a few years back, when the need for a hospital in Vaughan was first identified by people living in the city.

They say that those who do not know history are destined to repeat it.

Well Premier Notley, there's a bit of history for you.  What's the plan?

Questions for the Candidates: Airdrie Hospital

Each day this week, I will suggest a question for he candidates in Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills in the upcoming provincial election, slated for May 5th.

They are in no particular order; one is not more important that another.  But the answers are important to all of us here in this area!

Question #1;  If your party forms Alberta's next government, how does party plan to address the Airdrie Hospital debacle?

When the answer comes back, I'll be looking for specifics.  A city of 50,000+ - and growing by the day - must have a fully operational hospital!  I'm expecting to hear how they plan to revise/update the province's hospital building program to include Airdrie?  I'm also expecting to hear about a proposal for a three level plan involving the Feds, the province and the city to get things rolling.

I know times are tough financially, but the health situation in Airdrie is getting tougher by the day, too!

Province and Airdrie Making a Great Start

I was very pleased to hear that the City of Airdrie and the Alberta Government have begun the initial steps in providing Airdrie with health care facilities worthy of that fast growing city.  A 24-hour emergency health care facility will be built in Airdrie using public and private money. 

I understand that the building will house 24 hour emergency clinic, doctors' offices, and medical related retail space.  Alberta Health Services will lease or buy one floor for its clinic, while doctors and retail space will occupy the other two floors of the building.   I also know that this whole project has come to fruition thanks to some local businessmen and, in a big part to a generous donation from an unknown benefactor!

This is wonderful news!   This will provide the 50,000-plus Airdrie residents - and the thousands of folks around that city - with a stop-gap facility, until the hospital is built.  

Now I'm hoping to hear soon that a site for the new Airdrie Hospital has been chosen.  I realize the hospital is quite a few years away.  Look at how long it took to create the South Health Campus in Calgary!

But that journey has now begun!  Well done Airdrie!

No Need of an Airdrie Hospital?

I have learned from a reliable source that Alberta Health Services and the provincial government have not yet even identified any need for a new hospital in Airdrie!

They have identified the need to expand the Airdrie Regional Community Health Centre!  Expansion of the Health Centre is a great start, but what about the desperately needed hospital?

In light of the current economic conditions and the state of the province's coffers, I didn't expect to see them digging a hole and putting in the foundation for the new hospital.  But I did expect there to be something in the preliminary planning stages.  I might have even thought that the province and the city would have scouted out a good spot for a hospital, and maybe even started the process to acquire the land.

Hospitals are expensive to build and operate.  I don't expect to see one built in Airdrie in the near future.  Now it appears the new Airdrie hospital has moved into never-never land!

Here we have a fast growing city with around 50,000 inhabitants, without a hospital - or even future plans for a hospital!  Somebody has dropped the ball, here.

Airdrie Health Survey

Alberta Health Services has initiated an online survey to gauge our health needs in the Airdrie area!  I haven't participated, but I plan to in the near future.  Many of the folks hereabouts are focusing their efforts on the creation of a 24 hour urgent health care facility in Airdrie.  That's a good start!

But while this is an admirable goal, it falls short of what this area around the City of Airdrie really needs - and that is a full fledged hospital!  When I'm talking hospital, I'm not talking about a small hospital such as those we find in Three Hills, Drumheller or Didsbury.  While these are wonderful facilities for the communities they serve, they fall short of what this area needs.  I'm talking about a complete care facility - such as the general hospitals in Red Deer, Medicine Hat or Lethbridge - but one similar to the South Health Campus would be ideal.

I believe that Airdrie is the largest city in Alberta (and perhaps all of Canada) without a hospital!  For any kind of serious health treatment, perhaps more than 100,000 people in the area have to scamper into Calgary, to wait in the already crowded health system and facilities, there!  The good folks of Okotoks and Alderside now have a fantastic hospital facility - the South Health Campus - gradually opening up close to them at the southern edge of Calgary.  We on the north side must be second class Albertans?

We need a similar facility, built somewhere immediately north or immediately south of the City of Airdrie. 

I urge you all to participate in the health survey and let all of those who read the results know that we do not like being treated as second class Albertans!

Airdrie Needs a Hospital!

The City of Airdrie is among the fastest growing communities in Alberta.  But I understand that, with a population approaching sixty thousand, Airdrie is still without plans to have a hospital there!

I think that is ridiculous and disgusting!  Calgary has the new South Health Campus, which is a beautiful facility, but it certainly was never designed to help the folks from up north here - it's just too far away!  We need a similar facility built somewhere right around Airdrie!  NOW!

I've been told that over 1200 babies are born in Calgary hospitals each year to Airdrie parents!   New moms are transported down one of the busiest highways in Canada, to a hospital many kilometers away from their home communities.  New dads have little choice but to either get a hotel room in Calgary, sleep on the hospitals' floors, or commute from Airdrie to visit their new families!

What kind of a system is that?

Those in the Provincial government say that Airdrie's huge and rapid growth was hard to predict.  Well, predict it or not, it's here!  So what is going to be done about it?

I say let's shelve the "Big City Charters," for now and concentrate all resources on addressing this health care crisis in Airdrie.  I'm sure the mayors of Calgary and Edmonton would both agree that this is a much more pressing problem!   Our new Premier, Jim Prentice, must be made aware of this situation.  He's been too quiet on this crisis so far. 

What are we going to do about it?

South Health Campus is great, but it's no Airdrie Hospital

A few weeks back I had an appointment at the new South Health Campus.  This is the new Calgary hospital located in the far south of the city.

Getting there was super easy; south on Stoney Trail and follow the "H" signs as you turn west.

There was a huge underground parking facility which is very easy to navigate.  All sections of the parking garage are given names like "Mountain" and "Forest," so it's easy to retrace your steps back to your car after your appointment.

Once in the hospital I was impressed by the quiet, serene atmosphere of the place.  I also noticed the place was absolutely spotlessly clean.  There was cleaning being done all the time we were there!

This is one beautiful hospital!

However, there is one huge problem with it.  It (or one like it) isn't in Airdrie!