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T hur s da y, J a n u a r y 9, 2014
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Vol. 1 Issue 10
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The curling season is in full swing at the Crowsnest Pass Sports Complex with weekly leagues and several bonspiels on the horizon. The Miners’ Spiel is on Jan. 31, the Lumbermen’s Bonspiel is March 7 to 9, the Shamrock Mixed Bonspiel is March 14 to 16 and this year’s Bunny Bonspiel will be April 17 to 20. Hurry hard! Photo by J. MacFarlane
Health system not working, says local physician By Joni MacFarlane Editor
President of the Alberta Medical Association and local physician, Dr. Allan Garbutt, took to the airwaves recently to comment on a Calgary surgeon’s decision to opt out of the public healthcare system. This is the first time in Alberta that a surgeon has taken such a step. On Dec. 24, Garbutt was interviewed on CBC Radio’s Eyeopener program to talk about Dr. Robert Hollinshead who said he was frustrated by increasing wait times and a government unwilling to fund the system. “If the public system isn’t prepared to step up for Canadians and provide the resources so they can get timely access, then maybe we have to have an adult discussion about considering other op-
tions,” said Hollinshead. Past president of the Alberta Medical Association and former clinical chief of orthopedics in Calgary, Hollinshead said too many young surgeons can’t find work in the province while patients are waiting months, and sometimes years, for surgeries because the government isn’t properly funding the public system. The move should spark a discussion with the government that the current system isn’t working, Garbutt said. “I do know that all of the doctors in Alberta, and I mean all the doctors in Alberta, are concerned about wait lists, access to the patient, lack of services, and things of that nature,” he said to interviewer David Gray. Garbutt said Hollinshead’s decision sends a message that “the current system is not delivering the access, the care, the speed, that Albertans
want and need... it’s just not the way things should work”. Garbutt said AMA would like to sit down with the government, Alberta Health Services and anyone with good ideas to find solutions. Cautious not to endorse or oppose the surgeon’s decision, Garbutt said the move highlights that doing things in the same way has failed. Although infrastructure exists, he added, the system is inefficient. Operating rooms sit empty while surgeons sit idle and patients suffer. The decision to opt out of the public healthcare system, he believes, was meant to provoke a discussion that would lead to solutions. “We’re in favour of working with the government, working with Alberta Health Services and getting a better system in place so that patients get better care, quicker, and the government gets to save some money in the process,” said Garbutt.
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