The provincial government needs to start listening to Sturgeon County-area residents if it wants to avoid another Morinville Clinic debacle, say local elected officials.
Alberta Health Services announced Jan. 17 that it planned to close the lab and X-ray department at the Morinville Clinic by Feb. 1. It reversed the closure two days later after public outcry.
The clinic is one of the only three places in the Sturgeon County region where residents can have basic medical tests performed and draws some 400 patients a week. Had the closure gone through, those patients would have had to drive or get a ride to St. Albert at their own cost for lab tests — something they already have to do for X-rays, as the clinic’s X-ray machine has been broken for two years.
The Gazette spoke with Morinville-area leaders this past week to see what steps should be taken to ensure basic medical services don’t disappear overnight from Morinville.
Communication vital
Morinville and Sturgeon County mayors Simon Boersma and Alanna Hnatiw agreed open dialogue is essential for the protection of rural health services.
Hnatiw said AHS’s initial decision was unexpected, and that it is almost unthinkable a lab as busy as Morinville’s would get shut down.
“It’s difficult to advocate for things you don’t see coming,” she said.
Boersma said communication was essential to reversing the planned closure in Morinville and credited the community and local MLA Dale Nally for speaking out. He called on AHS to give more advance notice for these sorts of changes.
“We need to understand where these funding cuts are going to happen,” he said, adding that he considered the proposed closure to be such a cut.
“At least give us a chance to work towards solutions. Having it as an overnight thing is not good.”
St. Albert MLA Marie Renaud said last month’s situation with the Morinville clinic is another case of the province imposing change without consultation, adding that the province would have realized the consequences of the closure had it asked the people on the ground about it. She argued that the closure is part of the province’s hostile relationship with doctors and nurses, one that has seen a former health minister rip up contracts with doctors and allegedly yell at a Calgary doctor at the doctor’s home.
“We’re not in a battle with doctors and nurses,” Renaud said.
“We’re here to create a really strong health-care system and work with them.”
In an email, Nally said AHS makes independent decisions when it comes to local clinics and labs, and that he will always advocate for accessible health care in Morinville–St. Albert.
“This includes fixing or replacing the X-ray services at the Morinville Clinic and the permanent operation of this facility.”
Money questions
Nally said the province is committed to ensuring all Albertans can access health care close to home, adding that the province’s Rural Education Supplement and Integrated Doctor Experience (RESIDE) program should help draw physicians to rural communities.
Announced Jan. 31, RESIDE commits the province to providing $6 million over three years to place 60 new med-school grads in 15 rural communities, none of which are in the Sturgeon County region.
While Boersma suggested raising money to fix Morinville’s X-ray machine, Hnatiw said she was concerned doing so would just download more provincial costs onto municipalities.
“If we’re going to start providing health care, we need to look at the province to understand how we’re supposed to be funded to do that,” Hnatiw said.
Boersma said Morinville residents are provincial taxpayers, and the province needs to look after them.
“Our provincial and federal governments need to step up and ensures these services are here.”
