Health minister tours hospital
Amy Gregson – Times Reporter
Alberta’s new Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky was in town Feb. 19 at the request of Strathmore-Brooks MLA Arno Doerksen to tour Strathmore General Hospital
Zwozdesky met with doctors, nurses and staff to speak about the issues they are currently facing.
The issues brought to the attention of Zwozdesky by health care workers included the need for expanded facilities for extended care and assisted living for seniors, upgrades to the emergency room including more beds, and upgrades and expansions to laboratory facilities including x-ray diagnostic imaging.
Upgrading facilities is something Zwozdesky said the government is currently working on with the Health Facilities Capital Plan.
“We just had our first meeting as a group of MLA’s, starting to talk about what that plan will look like for health related facilities be it expansion, renovations, add-ons or new [buildings].”
The government has invested $2.5 billion over the next three years in this plan, with the first part being accessible March 31.“Then we will know better what will be going ahead, at what speed and in what time frame,” said Zwozdesky.
When the provincial budget was announced on Feb. 9, health care was one of two areas that saw an increase in funding.
Alberta Health Services is getting $9 billion in base level funding this year as opposed to $8 billion the previous year.
The Government of Alberta has also taken over and will pay the $1.3 billion deficit for Alberta Health Services
The government has set a five-year funding plan that will ensure stable and predictable funding.
Zwozdesky said the funding has already been affected at local levels, such as Strathmore, in areas like ambulance funding getting increases or staying the same.
Zwozdesky said benefits also include staff recruitment of doctors and nurses.
“Now that Health Services knows what their predictable stable funding will be, they’ll be able to move forward for the first time in many years.”
It was also announced last week that Alberta will reduce the waitlist for 2,230 surgeries and 3,500 more MRI and CT scans will be added.
“That’s just the beginning of the plan,” said Zwozdesky. “As health services deal with the new budget and starts putting some meat on the bones for the long-term, you will see some immediate results and some staggered and strategic results, coming forward in the next two years.”
Zwozdesky also met with Strathmore Value Drug Mart to speak with them about the pharmaceutical strategy and how it is helping reduce costs for Albertans accessing prescription drugs.
“[Prescription] drugs is the single, highest, fastest expanding cost in the whole health care system,” said Zwozdesky.
Zwozdesky said Albertans spend $2.3 billion a year on prescription drug costs and $1.3 billion of this is funded by the government of Alberta.
Zwozdesky ended off his time in Strathmore by meeting with council members from the Town of Strathmore and Wheatland County about health care and municipal sustainability funds.
Mayor George Lattery said he voiced three issues he sees in Strathmore, including blood pressure monitors, x-ray imaging and the need to have a CT Scan.
“There’s nothing better you can do than talking to the ministers,” Lattery said.
amy@strathmoretimes.com