Recent moves to halt the closure of hospital beds is a sign that the government is finally listening and bodes well for the future, said Dick Tansey, the president of Seniors United Now in St. Albert.
Last week new Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky reversed two earlier decisions to close acute care beds at Alberta Hospital and in Edmonton and Calgary hospitals. Aimed at saving about $51 million over the next three years, the plan would have seen about 50 bed closures split between St. Albert's Sturgeon Community Hospital and hospitals in Redwater, Devon and Leduc.
The government had also planned to close 146 psychiatric beds at Alberta Hospital but those closures are on hold until Zwozdesky can review the decision, he said.
"We're certainly optimistic with the changes that are being made," Tansey said.
"I think it's very positive with this new man. He seems to be alert. He seems to have a personality that will do very well in this field."
Zwozdesky's predecessor, Ron Liepert, was widely disliked by the public for his bristly personality and was soundly booed when he appeared in St. Albert last year.
The government is still planning to move about 100 geriatric psychiatric patients from Alberta Hospital to the Villa Caritas facility being built in Edmonton.
Tansey has concerns about that.
"If seniors are doing well in Alberta Hospital, then why would you want to move them?" he said. "Every time you do that, you're disrupting them."
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has found ways to save $420 million in administrative costs but still faces a $1.2 billion deficit, said board chair Ken Hughes.
Politically, Zwozdesky's moves have been interpreted as an attempt to cool off the heat that Stelmach and his government have been feeling over perceived mismanagement of the healthcare system. It could be working.
"If what we're seeing is following [Stelmach's] instructions then I guess you have to say Stelmach's turning himself around a little bit," Tansey said. "But time will tell. That part of it I'm not quite so sure about."
While Zwozdesky's decisions are good ones, the Alberta Liberals have a question.
"It's really hard to figure out who's in charge here," said leader David Swann.
Friends of Medicare is calling for a review of AHS CEO Stephen Duckett's contract.
St. Albert MLA Ken Allred said the developments of the past week should leave no doubt about who is the boss of health.
"Minister Zwozdesky has clearly shown who is in charge," Allred wrote in an email while on vacation.
If there are cost pressures associated with not following through on bed closures, they will be addressed in the upcoming budget, Allred said.
Scott Hennig of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which supports a parallel private health care system, said the constant changing of direction is a signal that the government will always back away from controversial changes and will never do anything to achieve much-needed health care reform.
"We'll just continue to run the same system the way it is and continue to bleed the system dry of money and, eventually, of its usefulness to citizens," Hennig said.
Alberta Health Act
Zwozdesky's announcement came the same day that a health advisory committee announced the results of a review of Alberta's health-related legislation. The committee recommended that the province write an Alberta Health Act built around "core principles" and aligning with the Canada Health Act.
The committee wants a patient charter and stronger support for evidence-based decision making.
"Alberta's health system is burdened by a cumbersome, confusing and complex web of legislation and regulation," said co-chair Fred Horne, MLA for Edmonton Rutherford.
Alberta must do a better job of putting people at the centre of their health care and ensuring equitable access to timely and appropriate care, Horne said. He also wants to see more focus on wellness, commitment to quality and safety and a culture of trust and respect.
