Wildrose Party MLAs held a morning roundtable in Innisfail last week delving into seniors' health-care issues. The session was facilitated by the MLAs on Feb. 5 and opened the door to some of the area's residents' biggest concerns.
Wildrose Seniors Critic Kerry Towle, Wildrose Health Critic Heather Forsyth and Wildrose Service Alberta Critic Rod Fox held the meeting at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre.
ìI think they're scared. I think they see the future,î said Towle, in an interview. ìWe have a boomer population that's going to need housing. They're going to need care.î
The meeting attracted more than 40 people and went until 11:30 a.m., touching on subjects including home care, health system costs, long-term care and emergency services.
When wait times reach four months for a shoulder operation or nine months for an MRI, seniors may miss their window of opportunity for effective care, Towle said.
The availability of long-term care beds close to home is also a problem, she added.
ìOur seniors don't want to leave Innisfail but they can be placed up to 100 kilometres away,î she said. ìThat adds an extra burden on their family.î
An issue that compounds the problem is that four of Innisfail's long-term care beds at the hospital are designated for Red Deer patients, she said.
Pete Wasylyshyn, 74, is also worried the system isn't set up adequately for when he needs to move into a long-term care facility.
ìIs it in your own community or do you have to be sent packing somewhere into the hinterland because there's no space at home?î he wondered.
One of the biggest things to come out of the roundtable was a sense that seniors can and must stand up for their rights, he said.
ìWe have to remember in all of this that the government seems to think they have our money,î he said. ìIt's our money, all they do is handle it.î
The coffee and doughnuts at the event were a plus, he noted, but says the real benefit was to start down the road to seeking answers to seniors' health-care needs.
ìIt was a very good and vigourous exchange of ideas,î he said. ìIt really started to get deeper and it took a bit longer than they had planned.î
In the past six months Wasylyshyn has had four operations and understands treating Albertans as they age does not come cheep.
ìSome of the costs are horrendous to look after a person,î he said, adding it was good to discuss the problems. ìI felt very good when I came out of there. So many questions were posed and so many questions were answered.î
