Editorial
Although the next provincial election is still three years away, the Redford Tories will need to start doing a much better job overseeing and running the province's health-care system – or face public backlash now and consequences at the polls in 2016.
As one of the top public services provided to taxpayers, health care is, and promises to remain, of great interest to every Albertan. It is, after all, the province's most expensive department, costing millions of dollars every month.
Yet in light of the latest shakeup of the system, Albertans could perhaps be forgiven for thinking that the ruling PCs may not have a very good handle on health care these days.
Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills Wildrose MLA Bruce Rowe echoed what many Albertans may be thinking when he recently gave the health-care leadership a failing grade.
“A review of Alberta Health Services (AHS) governance echoed what Albertans have been saying since the superboard was created: AHS' structure is too centralized, confusing for taxpayers and community leaders alike, unaccountable, and under-performing,” said Rowe.
“Last month the Redford government pronounced – after much study and consternation – that AHS is not, in fact, perfect. Understated and long overdue, the admission was at least a head fake in the right direction. The first step to tackling any difficulty is recognizing that a problem exists.”
Health Minister Fred Horne recently announced the latest reorganization of AHS, changes that will see 80 vice-president positions reduced to 10, and the health authority's five geographic zones reduced to two.
The changes, however, do not include the elimination of the province's superboard.
Unfortunately for rural Alberta, the latest shakeup may not necessarily equate to reduced wait times or better overall access to health-care services.
There used to be more than 200 health boards in Alberta, giving many rural communities hands-on input into the health care of their residents.
Those boards were then consolidated into 17 boards, and then nine, and now one superboard.
Whether this dramatic centralization of health care has led to better overall health services for Albertans remains an open question – as does the question of whether this latest shakeup will lead to improvements or just more of the same.
What is known is that despite millions and millions of taxpayers' dollars spent on health care every month, long lineups, lengthy wait times and other problems continue to plague the system.
Health Minister Horne would like residents to believe that this latest shakeup will lead to real improvements. Unfortunately that is exactly the same message the long line of his predecessors has been sending over the past decade.
