Working together to improve health care
By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA
Hello Chestermere-Strathmore.
It’s such a pleasure, as always, to chat with you. I wanted to highlight some of the work that the Ministry of Health has done, particularly Minister Copping, who has recently finished his tour of the province. He met with a wide range of people: from doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers, to elected officials, home care and continuing care administrators and countless other stakeholders.
For those areas he couldn’t visit, he held 15 additional meetings with councillors and officials from cities, towns and municipalities who said they couldn’t make it but wanted to contribute. I attended two of these meetings, one in person during the tour and one of the additional meetings by Zoom. I am grateful for the input of all who spoke and the great ideas and solutions offered by those who attended. There were many discussions around the need for additional navigational support for Indigenous patients, clients and families across the province.
Thank you to His Worship, Pat Fule, and council for their tremendous work in this area. You can be truly proud of the work done and the relationships built in our communities, our frontlines and with Indigenous partners that I believe will inspire ongoing work in the province. Indigenous wellness coordinators and liaisons support traditional healing practices, provide patient advocacy and ensure patients receive culturally appropriate care in high-volume sites. With the additional positions, AHS can provide cultural support through the evenings and weekends, which wasn’t previously available.
Working with Siksika Nation and the community, the AHS Indigenous Wellness Core and the Strathmore hospital are currently collaborating and have added an Indigenous liaison for the community.
Please share your thoughts in an email (community.engagement@ahs.ca).
Respiratory illness season is fast approaching; we encourage you to get your influenza immunization. Public influenza immunization clinics are now open – and make sure your COVID-19 immunizations are up to date. Please keep yourself and others safe.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has launched the Alberta Lung Cancer Screening Program for approximately 3,000 eligible Albertans. We have honoured our commitment to boost intensive care unit (ICU) capacity with fifty additional fully staffed critical care beds in hospitals across the province. We now have 223 adult general ICU beds, a 29 per cent increase from before the pandemic. A huge thank you to AHS who have opened additional beds at 12 hospitals with the support of a $300 Million investment over three years from Budget 2022. This is your taxpayer dollars hard at work.
As you know, a new agreement between the government and the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) will see the government invest an estimated $750 Million in new funding to stabilize the healthcare system. Our wonderful Alberta physicians will see an average rate increase of four per cent over the four-year term of the agreement. Larger average increases for specialties facing greater pressures are planned, such as family medicine which include new investments of more than $250 Million in targeted funding to address pressures, including recruitment and retention programs, so more Albertans can access family doctors and more support for physician practice viability.
Finally, AHS has ten additional new ambulances in service for Alberta patients, with five each in Calgary and Edmonton, and are in addition to the nine new ambulances that went into service in June 2022, for a total of 19. They have been funded through $16 Million in the current Government of Alberta budget. They are one component of the AHS EMS 10 Point Plan to address sustained high call volumes and ensure Albertans get emergency care where and when they need it.
As always, we love to hear from you.
(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore)