Four of the five candidates of Brooks-Medicine Hat riding (Photo Courtesy: Prina Atwal)

By Prina Atwal

Contenders for Brooks-Medicine Hat byelection gather at Brooks Chamber of Commerce forum

Nov 3, 2022 | 1:57 PM

BROOKS, AB – Four of the five candidates for the Brooks-Medicine Hat riding gathered in Brooks-Alberta last night.

The city’s chamber of commerce hosted a forum. And individuals were asked to pre-submit any questions, where healthcare questions took the lead, and became a large discussion topic.

Danielle Smith, UCP party candidate, expressed her concerns regarding Alberta Health Services.

“Before the end of the year, we need to install an official administrator at the helm of Alberta Health Services, I don’t mean to disrespect the board of Alberta Health Services, but they are not in the position to make the substantial changes that we need to make, so we are going to ask them to step aside for a time, put an official administrator, so we can direct the changes that need to be happening in Alberta Health Services.”

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Barry Morishita, former mayor of Brooks and Alberta Party candidate, disagreed that is the case

“We actually have to trust professionals to do their job, to make judgment calls, to provide guidance, to provide, you know ideas, and change, and innovation, and I disagree on how the board should be, I think the board should be made out of professionals, doctors, nurses, practitioners, people who understand what it’s like to deliver at the front.”

Bob Blayone from The Independence Party mentions there are many issues within the Alberta Health Services.

“The private corporation of the college of physicians, and surgeons, and the lawyers who control those organizations, must be broken. The college’s absolute corruption unfolds over the sovereign rights, and health care rights of Alberta doctors, Albertans themselves, it must come to an end.”

But Gwendoline Dirk blamed the UCP for problems with Alberta Health Services.

“As soon as the UCP got into power, they got into a fight with doctors, the doctors were not happy and continued to argue with the government, well what did they do, they ripped up their contract and many doctors decided to retire early, many doctors got opportunities elsewhere, as a result, we have a severe shortage of doctors in Alberta.”

Further, Smith noted that hospital wait times are an ongoing issue.

“In some hospitals, what we had is a situation, where we had actually is a walking clinic attached to the hospital and that is kind of the trio we need to do. Have a doctor or a nurse practitioner right in our emergency room, so that we can be writing prescriptions, and moving people along if they don’t need to be admitted. And if they do need to be admitted let’s admit them right away, so we’re not waiting 29 hours on a hospital floor.”

Smith adds that an efficient way of offloading and on loading patients when they come from an ambulance needs to be put in place . . .

“What we’re doing to our world communities is outrageous, we are asking royal communities to send transportation to Calgary and then get caught in the Calgary vortex and never come back to their home community.”

Barry Morishita agreed with that statement.

“To give you an example, transportation is an issue, moving back and forth, from the hospital back home or from the hospital to care appointment or specialized appointment in bigger centers, is a problem, it’s a cost, you tie up an EMT or a paramedic, and ambulance to do that. There are communities that have handy bus services that have been trying to partner with AHS but because of the centralized model of decision-making, we can’t make the change without changing it for everybody. I think one of the ways to move the system forward is to try different pilots, try to leverage the opportunities in a community.”

And Gwendoline Dirk says staff shortage contributes to the transportation issue.

“Why are so many people ending up in the emergency room, well the fact is that they’re not seeing their family doctors, and so they’re having to go to the emergency room for simple check-ups. So many things are being missed because we don’t have enough family doctors, so we can do the routine tests, and people can go to a family doctor and you know something similar. So they’re going to emergency rooms instead, yea it would be great to have some kind of triage emergency room, or a walk-in clinic right in the emergency room, but let’s look at the problem as it is, we need more doctors, we need more frontline workers.” “

The fifth candidate, Jeevan Mangat, with the Wildrose independence Party could not make it to the forum due to bad road conditions.

The last debate will take place tonight at Medicine Hat, and election day is on Nov. 8, citizens are encouraged to come out and vote.