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TENILLE TELLMAN
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The provincial health system has to get
moving on projects after investing months in structural changes,
the Friends of Medicare said Tuesday.
Monday’s announcement from
provincial Health Minister Ron Liepert greater defined the roles of
the Chief Medical Officer of Health (MOH), the Alberta Health
Services Board (AHSB) and the Ministry of Health and Wellness. But
everyone is still waiting for the strategy to roll out and
“you can’t have that kind of paralysis in terms of
policy in the health care field,” said David Eggen, executive
director of Alberta Friends of Medicare.
Under the current structure, the Chief MOH
will have more independence and direct interaction with the health
minister. It’s hard to speculate how that plan will unfold
and depends on who takes on the position which has been notoriously
difficult to fill, he added.
The AHSB will likely be executing
directives directly from the ministry, rather than creating their
own policy initiatives. It has been made clear the board will have
direct accountability to the ministry, he said.
“I just want them to get going
because there’s literally dozens of different initiatives
around the province that different health boards had started up and
thousands of health workers that are all looking and wondering
what’s going on.”
Capital projects are currently under
review to see if they fit into the new provincial plan and could be
subject to change, depending on recommendations from Calgary-based
McKinsey and Company Canada. Government will be looking to save
money by potentially consolidating or deferring projects, says
Eggen.
“If you don’t have a shovel in
the ground now, for whatever capital project you were anticipating,
then I’d be concerned.”
Communities need to express their concerns
to the minister, pressing for affirmation that projects will go
ahead unchanged. Eggen cited recent changes to construction at a
Calgary hospital where the number of beds were reduced and a
psychiatric wing was deleted. Delays in the construction have also
lead to cost overruns. |
