SUNDRE - A Sundre councillor sought her colleagues’ perspectives regarding to what extent council should be involved in matters pertaining to health care.
Coun. Cheri Funke brought up the issue during the Feb. 24 meeting following developments that had led doctors in Sundre — and throughout Alberta — to express concerns about the provincial government’s direction as well as an Alberta Health Services review of hospitals.
During a video broadcast on social media, the physicians had expressed concerns that substantial changes to services could be forthcoming to the Sundre Hospital and Care Centre. In a subsequent video response posted online, Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA Jason Nixon said Health Minister Tyler Shandro had assured him that no changes were currently being planned for the hospital.
News broke shortly afterwards that the UCP had terminated the agreement with the Alberta Medical Association, leaving physicians without a contract that created concerns about the impact on patient services, prompting a town hall at the Sundre Community Centre as well as a provincewide backlash.
“It was a council issue when they brought up the hospital, when they put a lot of fear into the residents about changes that they said were going to happen with the hospital,” said Funke.
“My opinion is that’s where council ends, we don’t deal with AHS and wages and doctors and that aspect of it,” she said.
The councillor said she wanted a discussion on whether council should be involved beyond a matter about a hospital issue that involves doctors' compensations.
“We support our doctors, but it’s no longer a council issue to be involved in, am I correct?”
Mayor Terry Leslie said the hospital is under provincial jurisdiction, and that council had not had a specific request that he was aware of to take a position on anything to do with the facility, other than to consider waiving the rental fee for the town hall that was held at the community centre on Feb. 23.
“If we haven’t had a specific request, then our issue is to listen to the community concerns,” said Leslie.
The mayor said the Sundre Hospital Futures Committee has been developing relationships with AHS, the health minister, and with Nixon to bring forward community concerns.
“Doctors in the community are a valued part of the hospital futures committee,” he said, adding council has the ability to be part of the “committee and take community concerns through a channel to Alberta Health Services or to the minister…and we haven’t been asked to do any of those things.”
From his perspective, the mayor said council doesn’t have a role.
“Each of us has an opinion, each of us can do as the doctors have asked, which is to talk with our MLA,” he said, expressing uncertainty as to what position council would take.
“The hospital futures committee has (already) been taking concerns through a process they’ve developed.”
Coun. Richard Warnock said the committee is working on becoming a board.
“They’ve asked for committees of council to be set up for the advocacy for not only the Sundre hospital, but also health professionals in Sundre,” said Warnock, adding members of council will in the near future be sought to join that advocacy group once it is established.
“I don’t want to make it sound like that’s a year away, because it’s not. It’s very soon, so that’ll be the avenue that we can go forward as council,” the councillor said, adding he hoped that answered Funke’s question.
“That’s fabulous,” said Funke.
While she respects everything the hospital futures committee does, Funke pointed out the group is not a committee of council.
“(So) I’m very happy to hear that we are going to have a committee of council so that we can have the flow of information so that we know what is happening.”
After carrying a motion accepting the discussion as information, council considered the request to waive the community centre’s rental fee from the doctors’ town hall.
Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, said such requests generally go through the grants review committee.
“This came up rather suddenly,” she said.
Coun. Todd Dalke moved to approve the fee waiver request through council's discretionary fund.
Speaking against the motion, Funke said while she harbours a deep respect for the work doctors do in the community, that as a general practice, council considers such requests from non-profit groups, not businesses.
Warnock said he was not concerned about the roughly $160 fee being waived, but rather setting a precedent for other last-minute requests that don’t follow the grant application process. The councillor wondered about the possibility of accepting the request as information.
“Would this group then be able to apply through the process for the next grant to get their $169 back?” he asked.
“They would, as long as they met the criteria in the grant application,” said Nelson.
Coun. Rob Wolfe said he would typically agree with Funke’s position, but felt this instance was an exception.
“The money is well spent. It’s not for the doctors. It’s for the community as a whole to have this forum. It was just the doctors hosting it,” said Wolfe.
Funke further clarified her position, adding she would have been more inclined to support the motion had the town hall involved a collaborative approach among doctors, AHS and the health ministry.
Council ended up carrying the motion, with Funke opposed.
