INNISFAIL – Mayor Jean Barclay has written a strongly worded letter to Premier Danielle Smith that the onus to address the three-year, wrong-sized ambulance bay door problem belongs to the province and that the Alberta government immediately fund the project.
“The necessary funding should not be falling on the shoulders of the community or the Town of lnnisfail, rather the Alberta government should be ensuring their government-owned facilities are meeting the standards that are expected,” said Barclay in her Oct. 19 letter to the premier. “This has been an ongoing problem for at least three years. Currently, patients are loaded/unloaded in the parking lot, regardless of weather, and they are taken through a public lobby.
“An incident this past winter resulted in a woman in her 90s accidentally being dumped off the gurney,” the mayor added in the letter to Smith. “The Town of lnnisfail is requesting that the Alberta provincial government fund this important and needed project. I look forward to hearing from you about this issue and how it will be resolved quickly.”
The longstanding ambulance door issue came to a head at town council’s Oct. 11 meeting when volunteers from the Innisfail Health Centre Auxiliary appealed for financial support to get the project moving forward.
Council was told by the delegation the estimated cost to widen the ambulance bay door was $45,000. While $25,000 has been raised an additional $20,000 was required to start the project, council was told.
All members of town council supported the urgent appeal on Oct. 11 but pointed the finger at the province. Council then unanimously passed a motion to advocate on their behalf to the province to get the job done and quickly.
However, Barclay told town council on Oct. 24 she met with Alberta Health Services officials last month after the Oct. 11 council meeting and was given important “insight” into the ambulance bay situation, adding more dialogue is required with volunteers from the hospital auxiliary.
“I think there's been a little misunderstanding about how procurement services work through Alberta Health Services,” said Barclay. “There's actually not been an RFP (request for proposal) issued. It was more of a contractor they use quite a bit who came by and took a look and said, ‘it could be this.
“We've kind of suggested to try and get that sorted out a little bit so that they're not raising funds or funds are being raised in the community and then the project (cost) is maybe two or three times more than they actually thought in the first place.”
Later in an interview with the Albertan, Barclay said she still does not want to “lose sight of the project” as the longstanding issue is important to the community.
“It's important that people at their greatest time of need are able to be loaded and unloaded indoors, not out in the elements,” said Barclay. “I would like to see it addressed as quickly as possible, and I know there's logistics to the process and that's something that needs to be sorted out with the proper channels.
“I would hope that at some point that there is a resolution, and the resolution is that the ambulance is going inside the bay.”
