Health minister told to get more obstetrics doctors in Lethbridge

By Lethbridge Herald on July 18, 2023.

The premier has told new Health Minister Adriana LaGrange to address issues, including emergency room wait times and the lack of obstetrics doctors in Lethbridge. Herald file photo

Al Beeber
Lethbridge Herald

Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange has been told by the premier to ensure residents get improved access to world-class healthcare.

That includes adding more obstetrics doctors in Lethbridge and other communities in need such as Fort McMurray.

In a letter to her minister, Danielle Smith outlined a wide range of expectations “that Alberta fosters an environment within AHS and the entire health community that welcomes innovation and incentivizes the best patient care within the pillars of the Canada Health Act so that no Albertan will ever have to pay out-of-pocket to see their doctor or receive a needed medical treatment.”

Contents of the letter were contained in a media release Tuesday.

“I am thrilled to see the province making Lethbridge obstetrical care a priority, as I’m sure are the many expectant women and families in our city. The additional investment of $10-million into a provincial midwifery strategy is also welcomed news,” said mayor Blaine Hyggen in a statement.

“I look forward to continuing to advocate for the needs of residents in our city with the provincial government, and thank Premier Smith and Minister LaGrange for this positive step in improving health care in our community,” added Hyggen.

The premier also wants LaGrange to resolve what she calls “the unacceptable lab services delay challenge so that lab service access is timely across all areas of the province” and to continue improving EMS response times, cut emergency room wait times and decrease surgical backlogs.

LaGrange is also being tasked with continuing to implement recommendations from the Alberta EMS Provincial Advisory Committee and the PricewaterhouseCoopers EMS Dispatch review to ensure EMS dispatch “is being conducted in a way that provides the highest levels of service to Albertans in every part of the province, with special consideration for addressing local resources, challenges and concerns.”

The letter addresses numerous healthcare concerns including rural access to health professionals. It asks the Health Minister to work with municipalities, doctors, post-secondary institutions and health providers to attract and retain health workers in rural communities.

The premier wants health-care staffing challenges, particularly in rural parts of the province, addressed by LaGrange taking several steps which include improving health workforce planning, evaluating retention policies, leveraging the scope of allied health professionals.

And she wants LaGrange to work with the Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism to streamline immigration and certification processes.

In the letter the premier calls upon LaGrange to invest $6 million to add five more conditions to the Alberta Newborn Screning Program.

The Health Minister is also being called up on to invest about $10 million to develop and implement a provide-wide midwifery strategy and provide a one-time $10 million investment to support women-focused research, advocacy and care.

And the premier wants LaGrange to work with the Ministry of Technology and Innovation to “explore the feasibility of creating an Alberta health spending account to support improved health outcomes for Albertans.”

LaGrange, in a statement, is quoted as saying “health care touches the lives of every Albertan. I look forward to working with our partners in health care delivery towards new and innovative solutions to address the commitments in my mandate letter. I truly believe by working together with our healthcare professionals to find solutions, we can ensure Alberta will have the best health care system in the country and indeed the world.”

Friends of Medicare, in its own release, said the letter prioritizes “ideological pet projects” such as the spending accounts.

Executive director Chris Gallaway says the UCP “urgently needs to reverse course on their privatization agenda, because the fact of the matter is that their privatization schemes are only costing us more while worsening Alberta’s urgent health care short staffing situation.”

He added “a health spending account is nothing but a costly gimmick that doesn’t solve any of the issues facing our public health care system when it’s very clearly struggling.”

“This government is wasting precious time and resources on a project that will benefit no one but the most privileged among us — time and resources we should be devoting to implement the solutions we urgently need to fix our staffing crisis and improve universal health care for all,” he said.

“We are in an urgent situation that requires urgent action to deal with the widespread short-staffing, worker burnout, and closures impacting our entire public health care system.”

We need a credible workforce plan to first retain the skilled workers we have right now, and then recruit and train the health care workers needed to provide the care Albertans need and deserve.”

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