Fix healthcare, Duckett urges future Alberta premier

[CHIMO]

The former president and CEO of Alberta Health Services is urging Alberta's next premier to stop "pork-barrel" health spending and create 10,000 beds for seniors over the next decade.

"Invest in community care and accommodation for seniors before you promise any more hospital beds," Stephen Duckett writes in an open letter to the future premier-elect that appeared Thursday.

"People who don't need to be in hospital are stuck there because of inadequate home-support services or they have nowhere else to go. Alberta currently has the equivalent of a whole hospital occupied by such patients. The province needs to open 1,000 seniors' beds every year for the next decade to meet the emerging needs. Please commit to that."

In the letter, Duckett blames the Progressive Conservative party for a "systemic deterioration" of the health care system which he says has led to Albertans living shorter lives compared to other Canadians.

He also slams decisions he believes were made based on 'populism" like putting a second hospital in Grande Prairie and adding acute care beds to the Sherwood Park hospital. Duckett calls the latter initiative "yet another costly political decision."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/09/15/edmonton-duckett-health-letter-leadership-premier.html

[laundry_queen]

1. First of all

Grande Prairie needed SOMETHING. Honestly, I've had the worst experiences there with family. Just awful. WAYYYY too crowded. Everyone totally swamped. Kicking my kid out when she was barely awake from anesthesia because they needed beds. horrid!

Second, I agree with more senior beds needed. However, that is true in nearly every province. What I would like would be better services within large centers. I've lived in small towns for the last 15 yrs or so and now am back in Edmonton and the ER experiences have been disgusting and painfully LONG compared to smaller centers. I did have a good surgery experience though. I don't think the system is horribly broken, it just needs some tweaking here and there.