I am not a politician or an employee of Alberta Health Services (AHS) but in my opinion, especially in these anxious times with COVID-19, the health system is not meeting expectations of the populate.
We used to be able to get an ordinary blood test with a few minutes wait.
A central office on 811 books the appointment for you with no thought of patient health but only of ease for the lab staff.
Yes, it is only a blood test, but for some patients, especially senior citizens, it has to be completed to get a change in medication or a renewal in medication.
I fully understand the implications of overcrowding a waiting room during the onslaught of COVID-19, but there are some solutions if you think outside the box.
When I was working in southern Alberta a number of years ago, there was a movement to get a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit in the Lethbridge hospital.
AHS said there was no need as the province had one in Calgary and it was only 12 to 15 months for an appointment. They also said there was no room in the budget for that expense.
A foundation raised the money to purchase the unit and to perform the necessary renovations to install it in the hospital.
At that time, AHS had laid off a number of nursing staff and they were hired and retrained and the unit ran 24 hours per day.
All expenses and costs were recouped within a five year period of time.
Illness does not run on a 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. day.
Larry Hartmann,
Didsbury
