This letter is in response to T. Comeau's letter in which she expressed her dissatisfaction with the treatment she received at the Sturgeon Community Hospital when she took her two young children into emergency in the middle of the night.
First and foremost, Alberta Health Services is in pandemic mode. There have been policies and procedures put in place to protect yourself and the health of others. Your first step before going into emergency should be to call Health Link. If it is not a true emergency, you should be staying out of the hospital, especially during influenza season. Hospital waiting rooms are full of germs and viruses circulating through the air. The reason that the masks are put in place is for the safety of your children. If you do not want to follow the proper procedures, then do not come to emergency.
I recently took my seven-month daughter (who was born at the Sturgeon) to the Stollery for an appointment. The exact same policies are in place there. From the moment you walk in, you and your child have to put on masks. If Comeau has a problem with the nurse "barking" orders, then she should perhaps express her concerns with the current policies and procedures to Alberta Health Services.
Kelly Sampson, St. Albert
