Kerry Towle has finally been able to tour the Innisfail Health Centre.
And she left impressed.
“I was very pleased with my first tour,” said Towle. “One of the most interesting things I found was that local health centre policy was driven partially by local decision makers.”
Towle, who toured the centre on Jan. 16, was joined by David Diamond, chief external relations officer for Alberta Health Services (AHS), Suzanne Telford, Innisfail Health Centre site manager, and Tammy McCubbing, AHS's area director.
“It turns out that over 1,200 cataract procedures are performed locally,” said Towle. “Doctors from Central Alberta perform their operations here and it is a very successful niche program.”
She noted that Telford has done an “amazing” job on making the hospital more aesthetically appealing and less institutional in her time there.
“One of the pluses of having Telford in Innisfail…,” added Towle. “…is that she has turned an underutilized facility into one that is very efficient, not only in terms of the cataract operations, but also in terms of personnel and facility management.”
Towle wondered why Alberta Health Services has not taken a closer look at what Telford has done locally and tried to replicate the success elsewhere.
“There are many other smaller facilities like Elnora and Three Hills that are underutilized that might be able to tackle niche operations such as hip and knee replacements,” said Towle. “Alternately, waiting lists from other facilities for other procedures could be alleviated by using operating or treatment space in these communities. The example is right in front of them.”
The provincial Opposition Wildrose party has advocated more local decision-making as part of its health platform for some time, noted Towle.
“As much as I enjoyed the tour and appreciated the innovation that Telford has undertaken I am aware that this is more the exception, rather than the rule,” said Towle. “Alberta Health Minister Fred Horne should empower local health facilities to make decisions regarding their own community in order to optimize their resources.”
