It seems that changes are afoot within Alberta’s health care system but St. Albert residents shouldn’t assume this means changes for the Sturgeon Community Hospital, said Alberta Health Services spokesman Rob Stevenson.
“There’s nothing in store for St. Albert,” he said. “A lot of what you’re seeing in the newspaper right now is fear-mongering by the mainstream media in an attempt to try and portray health service delivery in this province as in trouble and it’s certainly not.”
Three stories emerged this week suggesting Alberta is in the midst of belt tightening in health care. One said Alberta Health Services will cut 100 management positions in the next week. Another said that elective surgeries at the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be cut by 15 per cent in an effort to rein in spending.
Yet another news story emerged that some rural health centres in central Alberta could close and a number of rural hospitals downgraded to urgent care centres. That report was prepared by the former David Thompson Health Region and has not been accepted by Alberta Health Services, responded Health and Wellness Minister Ron Liepert.
Stevenson reiterated that the issues around surgeries at the Royal Alex and central Alberta will have no impact on services at the Sturgeon.
“It’s business as usual,” he said.
The hospital is currently undergoing an expansion to its emergency room. Signs had been posted earlier this year that the construction would be delayed. However, this is not a sign that the hospital’s function will change, Stevenson said.
“You can see the construction continuing at the Sturgeon. It’s continuing as planned,” he said.
More than one critic is suggesting the province is deliberately releasing as few facts as possible about its health care agenda and is purposely describing any criticism as fear-mongering.
“I can’t guess what these guys want to do because the biggest thing is they don’t say anything,” said Friends of Medicare director David Eggen.
“If Mr. Liepert wants to improve one aspect of his health ministry he should work on communication because Albertans are getting a lot of mixed signals and confusion and lots of combative attitude from the health ministry,” Eggen said.
It’s clear the government wants to centralize hospital services even if it doesn’t follow the recently released plan for central Alberta, Eggen said. However, he doesn’t think the Sturgeon is at risk of being downgraded.
“The Sturgeon hospital provides an important function,” he said. “People need to speak up and let it be known how much they value having a full-service hospital in their city.”
Liepert said Thursday that he wouldn’t change a hospital’s status without consulting people in the community. However, Alberta Liberal leader David Swann said the minister isn’t displaying much willingness to consult.
“They seem to feel they need to make these decisions behind closed doors,” Swann said. “That is not helpful for a system that’s close to being in chaos.”
