Arthritis clinic closure short-sighted
Re: “Specialized arthritis clinic falls victim to budget cuts,” the Journal, July 31. I have been receiving education about and treatment for arthritis from this specialized clinic at the University of Alberta Hospital for the past year. I was distressed and disappointed to learn it is being closed because of budget constraints.
Over the past few years, inflammatory arthritis has increasingly affected my daily life. Its impact is both profound and isolating — I had to stop my teaching career because of it.
The wait time for an initial visit with a rheumatologist in the Edmonton area is between six and 10 months. Rheumatologists focus on identifying the disease and providing medications to slow or arrest its development.
While I waited for my initial appointment with the rheumatologist, I found support and relief from a physiotherapist in my community. Physiotherapists in private practice are reimbursed for assessing and tending to individual body parts or specific injuries. Their training gives them general awareness of inflammatory arthritis.
I was fortunate to learn of the University Hospital clinic’s education workshop for people with arthritis through a friend. Even though months passed before the program was available to me, it was worth the wait. Over the course of four days, a multidisciplinary group of professionals provided me with information and ideas for dealing with arthritis.
I left the workshop with an individual plan to move forward, feeling supported and hopeful. The physiotherapists committed to my care made it clear that the work was mine to do, but I knew I had found a knowledgeable group of people to turn to if I needed support. Followup appointments were booked for my reassessment. The followup appointments have been my lifeline!
The knowledge and aids that were offered to me by the U of A clinic have been both comprehensive and targeted for patients with arthritis. It brought me great comfort knowing that the clinic’s practitioners were dealing with arthritis-related concerns on a daily basis and I could count on their support and knowledge when I needed it.
Without timely interventions, this chronic and debilitating disease will surely cost the health-care system more in the long term.
Alberta Health Services says the same service offered at the University Hospital clinic is currently available at the community level. This is simply not true.
In all areas of medicine, great listening skills are needed to provide effective care. That requires one-onone time with patients and a commitment to excellent and comprehensive service. The arthritis clinic at the U of A operates on that premise. It provides successful and productive intervention for patients and great information and support to rheumatologists.
Budget cuts are made in the name of efficiency and more often than not they are at the expense of effective treatment. It is a travesty that this model of care in our province is being dismantled.
I ask that the AHS reconsider its decision to close this program.