RED DEER HOSPITAL PAIN FELT ALL ACROSS ALBERTA

Moving patients simply overburdens other facilities, Paul E. Hardy writes

You may have heard that central Alberta physicians are crying foul when it comes to stalled expansion and redevelopment plans at the Red Deer Regional Hospital (RDRH).

Hundreds of community members recently attended a State of the Hospital Address where doctors questioned why plans to expand the major referral hospital for central Alberta have been put on the back burner, after sitting on the provincial urgent-priority list for two years in a row.

In 2015, an Alberta Health Services (AHS) needs-assessment study indicated a deficit of 96 in-patient beds, 18 emergency room beds and three operating rooms. A need for more planning was expressed; doctors disagree, however, citing many planning documents over the past decade.

Moving care into the community is certainly a laudable plan, but only if acute care is supported to minimum standards.

The creation of AHS was enacted in part to bring all health authorities, particularly Edmonton and Calgary, under one jurisdiction to enhance collaboration rather than competition between the two major cities. Unfortunately, at the time, plans to expand RDRH were lost, and now this is a second occurrence where physicians indicate central Albertans are being shortchanged when it comes to investing their hard-earned tax dollars.

Red Deer Regional Hospital is the only Alberta hospital that is the sole major referral centre for an entire zone. Central Zone has 453,000 citizens and many of these people start their medical journey closer to home, yet have to be referred to Red Deer for complex medical or surgical treatment.

Quality at the Red Deer Regional Hospital has recently been recognized by the American College of Surgeons for a number of indicators after surgery. A current provincial study showed top-level results measuring time to treatment for acute strokes.

Red Deer Regional Hospital is consistently among the top five busiest hospitals in the province — not surprising since, over the past 15 years, officials have twice widened the catchment area for referrals to RDRH.

Local doctors stated that, over the past two decades, tax dollars have been diverted to fund health infrastructure and programs in Edmonton and Calgary. Travel to these cities for medical care that could safely be provided closer to home is not only inconvenient, but it adds burden to our larger centres.

Albertans deserve health care delivery close to home when it is safe and reasonable to do so.

On the surface, this may appear to be a central Alberta issue, but reasons why all Albertans should care are two-fold:

Transparency about how your

■ tax dollars are being spent should be important to all. If AHS or the government plans a shift in how health care is delivered with your tax dollars, you have a right to know. Even if the change is gradual, the effect can be substantial over time. Next it could be a school in Edmonton or a government office in Calgary that’s affected, and as a taxpayer, you should be furnished with information of such planning shifts.

Be aware that, if Red Deer

■

Regional Hospital expansion does not occur in a timely manner, central Albertans will be increasingly receiving their heath care in the larger cities, even though their medical conditions can be treated closer to home. When you wait in the line to have your hip replaced in Edmonton, there could be central Albertans ahead of you in the lineup because of decisions made 15 years prior. As a taxpayer, you should know this.

Central Alberta physicians want transparency and fairness when it comes to the allocation of tax dollars toward funding health care. Working with AHS and government, high-quality care can be achieved by all Albertans. For all, this goal should be an imperative, whether decision outcomes seem close to home, or not.

Red Deer Regional Hospital is consistently among the top five busiest hospitals in the province.