Provincial cabinet minsters came to the Sturgeon Community Hospital Monday afternoon as part of an Alberta-wide listening tour.
Five ministers – Environment and Water Diana McQueen, Human Services Dave Hancock, Municipal Affairs Doug Griffiths, Transportation Ray Danyluk and Treasury Board president Doug Horner – joined St. Albert MLA Ken Allred for the tour of the hospital.
The tour is part of a province-wide sweep that will see Premier Alison Redford and her cabinet touring dozens of Alberta communities, which critics have called a taxpayer-funded campaign swing.
The ministers toured the facility's newly renovated emergency room, the diagnostic imaging department, including the hospital's CT scanning equipment, and they got an up-close look at where surgical tools and other medical equipment is washed and sterilized.
After leaving the hospital, Griffiths said he had a greater understanding of the role the facility plays in the broader health care system.
“It was pretty clear that with this hospital, the mindset that it just serves people from the St. Albert area isn't true. There are a lot of people from the north, from the Edmonton area.
Danyluk, who represents a northern constituency, said he saw potential for addressing concerns about access to health services after the closure of Edmonton's municipal airport.
“That is important to me because in northern Alberta it has been a challenge since the municipal airport closed.”
He said finding out how closely the Sturgeon works with other facilities was also illuminating and would be useful in the future.
“When we look at amalgamation of healthcare authorities this is the epitome of why it is necessary about the work that is being done together, the co-operation that is being done between different hospitals and different communities.”
Not a campaign
All of the ministers rejected the notion the swing had anything to do with the spring election, noting the government had done similar tours in previous year when there was no campaign on the horizon.
“It is not campaigning for an election or as a party, it is campaigning as a government. The government has to get around and say, ‘Hey we are listening,’ ” said Griffiths.
Hancock said cabinet ministers can get particularly focused on their issues and the tour helps understand the broader context.
“The cabinet tour gets you off that track and gets you to see what the broader context of the community is. When we sit around the cabinet table we can't just focus on our own portfolios. We have to make the broader decisions.”
He said it is also important to see more than just an MLA's home riding.
“You do actually have to get out of Edmonton, and I say that as an Edmonton MLA and cabinet minister, you have to get out and see the full context of the province.”
Wendy Tanaka-Collins, the Sturgeon's site director, said the tour is a great opportunity for the hospital to showcase the renovation work that been done.
“It was really exciting to have the opportunity to have them see the construction and see the new emergency department.”
She said the new department with its individual rooms is much better for patients and staff.
“The old department, because it was so close, was noisy. You could hear things happening at the nurses’ station and you could hear your neighbour.”
She said the one thing she really hoped the ministers would take away from their visit was that the Sturgeon offers full and comprehensive services.
“We are more than just a really small rural hospital, we are very much tied into the services that are offered throughout the Edmonton zone.”
