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VOLUME 81
NUMBER 16
403-887-0077 5227 Lakeshore Drive 24 PAGES
THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016
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Sylvan Lake citizens denied access to urgent care funding No money in provincial budget for failing rural health systems BY JENNA SWAN SYLVAN LAKE NEWS The 22,000 residents of Sylvan Lake and area, along with the over 750,000 tourists the Town sees annually have once again been denied access to a urgent care following the release of the 2016 Alberta Budget. The Sylvan Lake and Area Urgent Care Committee have been lobbying for a facility that would allow doctors to treat patients after hours since 2011. The previous Progressive Conservative government approved the project only to have the funding cut once the NDP took power following the recent election. Two other municipalities were also battling for 24-hour urgent care facilities, with Airdrie, a Wildrose run constituency and Beaverlodge, a Progressive Conservative constituency, being denied funding alongside Sylvan Lake. Currently patients in Sylvan Lake see their family doctor during regular clinic hours with an after-hours service being provided in closed clinics by a local group of doctors. However, as of June 1, local physicians will no longer be offering this service due to concerns of both patient and physician safety. The local doctors involved with the group will no longer be taking new patients but will continue to provide after hours phone service to their existing patients. Susan Samson, Urgent Care Committee chair, explains the lack of funding for urgent care in the community will mean extra time spent in Red Deer Regional Hospital’s (RDRH) Emergency Room for many residents of Sylvan Lake and area. Samson added because many of the visits residents make to RDRH are non life threatening they end up waiting for hours to see a doctor and adding additional stress to the hospital - often times with a very unhappy child in the middle of the night. “We’ve known the on call service was struggling and now it comes at the same time our funding was shut out so it’s a bit disappointing. With no on-call after hours, no urgent care and not being able to see a doctor unless you were already a patient of theirs -what are people to do?” asked Samson. “This government does not recognize the crisis we are facing and we are not going to take it anymore.” Following a meeting with Sarah Hoffman, Minister of Health, in December, Samson and the Committee were referred to Alberta Health Services Central Zone where they were told by vice president, Kerry Bales that were
was no chance of funding for the project. “Alberta Health Services suggests that what we have is adequate,” explained Samson. “Do you think it’s adequate for a senior or a small child to have to leave their home, leave their community in the dead of the night and go to Red Deer where they will sit in an emergency room all night when it could have been treated in their own town?” “He made it very clear to us that there was no money
and he indicated there had been no new net service investment in his entire duration of his time at AHS which means for 15 years there has been no investment in anything new in the area.” The total provincial budget is listed at $51.1 billion, of which $20.4 billion went to health. Alberta Health Services receives the bulk of the funding at $14.3 billion, which includes a $175 million increase this year.
Healthy Communities Initiative Cup – The Sylvan Lake and Area Urgent Care Committee was awarded the Healthy Communities Initiative Cup at the Volunteer Gala and Awards Evening Saturday at the Sylvan Lake Community Centre. In this photo: Susan Samson,Teresa Rilliing, Laurie Norris, Cora Knutson, Klaas Van Veller and Brian Inglis. Missing: Brad Bahler, Joe Myburg, Sean McIntyre, Helen Posti, Carol McMillian, Richard Lorenz, Betty Osmond,Kevin Halwa, Val Langevin, Marena Seifert, Shainia Bennett. JASMINE O’HALLORAN–HAN/SYLVAN LAKE NEWS.
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