A series in the Edmonton Journal several months ago on the acute hospital situation in Alberta was very informative but I would have to say was somewhat urbancentric in its viewpoint. As an urbanite, now living in a rural community part time, I would offer a somewhat different perspective than the Journal.
Admittedly there are no simple solutions to Alberta’s health-care dilemma but a balanced approach is necessary and I hope Minister Sarah Hoffman will view the big picture in attempting to resolve this critical issue.
There is no question that we have a lot of underutilized facilities in the rural areas and the large urban hospitals are bursting at capacity virtually every day. The service, however, in the smaller hospitals is certainly superior at the primary care level, to some extent because of the decreased demand on those facilities. Consideration should be given to utilizing the smaller hospitals possibly by transferring primary care patients out to them or giving referrals out to the rural hospitals for less complicated day surgeries. This would have the effect of utilizing those facilities as well as giving the rural medical staff a broader opportunity to maintain their level of skill and competence. I would submit that the rural practitioner likely has a broader perspective than more specialized urban practitioners due to the fact that they have to tackle emergent issues without the luxury of having a wide range of specialists at their doorstep.
Something that goes hand in hand with maintaining the level of care in the rural communities is the need to build up their economic base. Back in the early Lougheed days, when most of the rural hospitals were built, then deputy premier, Dr. Hugh Horner, had a broader vision to decentralize government services to the smaller towns and cities throughout the province. He was perhaps ahead of his time since with modern technology developed since his time, most governmental services can be delivered just as effectively from remote locations as from an urban office. This philosophy needs to be removed from the archives and implemented as a means of diversifying our economic base. Most of Alberta’s resource industries are in the rural areas, and can serve as a catalyst to spawn other service industries in those areas. It is important to have services, not just medical, at hand to serve their needs.
There are many advantages to the rural lifestyle that can be very attractive for raising a family as well as for retirees. The pace is not nearly as hectic, social activities while they may not be as sophisticated, are much more readily at hand.
Smaller rural hospitals can potentially be modified to offer a wider range of medical services, possibly housing medical clinics, providing long term care and any number of other services on a part time basis such as dental care. Many medical professionals currently spend a day or two a week catering to rural patients in their own hometowns.
As someone who has spent most of my working life in urban Alberta, I now enjoy spending my retirement in a less stressful, smaller community. I can go to a walk-in clinic, get a referral to the hospital for lab work and x-rays, and be home in an hour. I only need to buy gas once a month; I can walk to the grocery store and other commercial facilities; I’m five minutes from the golf course and 10 to the curling rink – what more could you ask for?
Ken Allred is a former St. Albert alderman and MLA.
