Health Regions

[coppertop]

The new Minister of Health and Wellness is reviewing all options regarding the delivery of health care in our province.
One suggestion that is making the rounds is downsizing the number of health regions to two.
The bureaucracy within the current system is mind boggling, decisions are made regarding simple things such as planting a few flowers beside a walkway, that involve several architects vs utilizing the knowledge of a local landscaper etc. The cost of the current way health care is delivered is astronomical, so much of the current funding is spent on administration vs plain old fashioned care for patients.
I am interested in hearing from anyone who has ideas on what our province needs to do to focus on patient care.

[farmers_son]

We should not be surprised that local/rural needs are overlooked or disregarded when decision making is centralized to the cities. Reducing the health regions to two will guarantee that more health care resources go to Calgary and Edmonton and less resources go to the rest of the province, as the Province's health care resources are limited.

We should not be surprised to see this kind of change happen generally as the Alberta electoral boundaries are going to be changed, giving more seats to the two cities and fewer to the rest of the province.

I would suggest the province needs to consider creating local authority and scrutiny committees to give a voice those who do not live in Calgary or Edmonton. Britain has something like that now. See:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/PatientAndPublicinvolvement/index.htm

Also:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/PatientAndPublicinvolvement/DH_4093409

Quote: "Since January 2003, every local authority with social services responsibilities (150 in all) have had the power to scrutinise local health services. OSCs take on the role of scrutiny of the NHS – not just major changes but the ongoing operation and planning of services. They bring democratic accountability into healthcare decisions and make the [British Health Service] more publicly accountable and responsive to local communities." End of paste.

However this suggestion will fall on deaf ears. I live in rural Alberta and my vote is not going to count much in future elections. Rural Alberta's influence in future provincial decision making is sure to be diminished. This suggestion to further centralize health care decision making is just one example of that.

[coppertop]

The local Hospital Boards were the most effective in decision making with respect to health care within the local area in my opinion.
Our Hospital Board ran the local hospital in the black, we were able to attract competent doctors; most of the time there were beds avaialble; people did not have to sit for hours in emergency, and many procedures were done locally. Now anyone with anything more serious than a hang nail is forced to travel out of the area, and in many cases diagnoses and treatment involves trips to several major centres. The waste within the health care system is obscene, and will continue to escalate unless there is a major overhaul. I agree with you that if the province decides to go with two major health regions, there is a distinct possibility it will come at the expense of rural Albertans. Having said that, I do have a lot of confidence in some very strong rural MLA'slike Jack Hayden, that will do everything they can to ensure that those who live outside the major trading areas are not forgotten.

[wilagro]

coppertop: I certainly agree with your opinion re: local board control. Our local boards worked very well until Ralph and his gang wrecked everything. Highly paid functionaries hundreds of miles away do not have our interests at heart.

[coppertop]

Regionalization of health care and power deregulation are two things we can thank Ralph/Steve West for. Neither have worked in the best interest of Albertans.