Alberta's Premier Danielle Smith listened to concerns raised by frontline staff in Airdrie and discussed the proposal by One Health Airdrie for an additional facility in Airdrie, which is currently being explored by Alberta Health.
"The proposal includes building and operating the facility and primary care clinic that it would contain," she wrote in a statement to Airdrie City View. "Ensuring we have the right partner delivering these services is critical and we will continue to evaluate this on an ongoing basis.”
She reiterated that she attended Airdrie's Urgent Care Centre on Wednesday to hear directly from these frontline health care professionals on what they need actioned at the ground level so they can do their jobs and treat patients in a timely manner.
"Some of the concerns raised by frontline staff were upgrades needed to their X-ray room, lights needing repair, and issues with improvised partitions," she stated. "We recognize there is a need to increase acute care and primary care services in Airdrie to ensure Albertans can access the care they need close to home and we are continuing to explore ways to increase system capacity."
Photos shared on X show Premier Smith, alongside Airdrie MLA Angela Pitt, meeting Dr. Julian Kyne, a longtime Airdrie doctor who is currently spearheading a new initiative to open an integrated primary and urgent care facility in the Vantage Rise neighbourhood of Airdrie. He was also instrumental in the opening of Airdrie's current Urgent Care Centre.
Albertans are grateful for their doctors, nurses, and frontline health professionals.
— Danielle Smith (@ABDanielleSmith) August 28, 2024
I was at the Airdrie Urgent Care Centre today to continue to hear directly from these frontline folks on what they need actioned at the ground level so they can do their jobs and treat… pic.twitter.com/Q5A9GphBC8
Airdrie's proposed healthcare facility
Airdrie City Council recently approved more land to be used for the potential new health facility, amidst concerns from health advocates throughout the province about the danger of healthcare privatization.
The Health Care Centre was proposed earlier this year by a private health company called One Health Associated Medical. Dr. Kyne of One Health told Airdrie City View the centre would provide most of Airdrie’s healthcare needs as a one-stop shop.
Kyne said their centre could serve as a blueprint for other communities to relieve pressure on the health care system and reduce wait times, but according to reports, some health care advocates have raised concerns about the privatization of health care.
“Allowing a for-profit operator of an Urgent Care Centre in Alberta would be a massive, unprecedented shift to privatized acute care delivery,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare in an online statement. Referring to the previously paused expansion renovations of Airdrie’s Community Health Centre, Gallaway said they were relieved when the public project was back underway as originally planned. Soon after, they learned the government was providing public funds to One Health to develop a proposal for what they called, “another privatization scheme for Airdrie’s health care.”
“Our proposal is that we have a collocated urgent care and primary care clinic,” Dr. Kyne explained, emphasizing this is not private health care. “The urgent care, the radiology, which includes CT scan, ultrasounds, etcetera, the pharmacy is there for all Albertans, right? Just like the current urgent care is open to everyone.”
The actual primary care clinic would be a One Health primary care clinic, similar to a family doctor’s practice. He emphasized there would be no charges or fees for publicly funded healthcare services.
The provincial government provided One Health with an $85,000 grant to “develop a business case for its integrated primary care centre and urgent care facility,” said Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange. One Health held 10 community engagement meetings in Airdrie to discuss their proposal in July.
If approved, the health centre is expected to be built within the next 24 to 30 months.
