State of Alberta’s healthcare system should be of concern to everyone in the province
By Lethbridge Herald on January 12, 2022.
Editor:
I am a very concerned citizen worried about the present state of our emergency services. Alberta’s healthcare system has been strained, from ambulance service to ICUs, for many months. Illness, physical and mental health injuries, and increased suicide have plagued its staff. Workers are exhausted and burned out at an alarming rate after almost two years of fighting this pandemic. Ambulance delays and red alerts (when no ambulance is available) are adding to the worst day of the patient’s life and to the practitioner that has taken an oath “to do no harm.” These medics are feeling defeated and unsupported! Our dedicated frontline workers have followed the rules and have kept so many people safe during this unfolding crisis. They deserve our gratitude, along with a safe and supportive work environment. Instead, they deal with overburdened workloads along with a shortfall of resources to respond adequately to every emergency.
When ambulances aren’t available, it causes a cascading effect, leaving firefighters and police at medical calls tied up, waiting for further care and transport. Rural ambulance teams are spending more time out of their community when pulled into the vortex of the bigger cities, leaving many smaller communities without ambulance services.
How many patients have died waiting for an ambulance or due to increased response times? All Albertans are vulnerable to this reality, and the threat will only increase if those with the power to enact necessary and immediate change fail to do so. Our dedicated EMS workers need a safe and supportive work environment where their mental and physical wellbeing is prioritized instead of routinely sacrificed. And they require adequate resources to continue fulfilling their crucial role in our society.
I have written letters to our elected officials and the head doctor of AHS and have encouraged my friends and family to do the same.
However, it is too easy for the concerns of a few to be ignored. Please consider writing your own letter to our elected officials and adding your voice to the growing demand for immediate change.
Kim Cameron
Lethbridge
9-8
Excellent comments Kim. We are seeing a repeat of what Ralph Klein did to us. I will never forget the nurses bawling their eyes out in my office when he destroyed their careers. I helped nine doctors and at least two dozen nurses relocate out of this province, and not one wanted to go. Many others changed careers like my next door neighbor and a nephew did. A friends sister went to Vancouver and worked there. B.C. has been telling our nurses they are welcome to come there. Of course like Klein did tried to force us into a private -for-profit system to repair the mess he created and it got him kicked out. Even his own father Phil and daughter Angie wanted him gone.
What disturbs my senior friends and I the most is the fact that the only people we see still supporting Kenney are ignorant seniors who are going to need these doctors and nurses the most. Thirteen percent of nurse in the Edmonton area have said they are leaving or changing jobs.
We are hearing from people in Edmonton that doctors have told them that it’s too late to now operate on their cancer and they only have a short time to live. All this thanks to this phony conservative Reformer Jason Kenney and the damn fools who support him. We hope you feel proud, while you hurl sarcastic comments at those of us who have tried to stop it. Don’t be surprised if you get sued, there are a lot of people out there wanting to kick your ass.
You know Peter Lougheed would never have allowed this to happen. It’s not happening elsewhere surgeries were being done we are told. .