Alberta Health Services has launched its’ annual recruitment campaign to find volunteers to serve on Health Advisory Councils across the province, including the David Thompson region, which Drumheller is a member.
As of December 31, 2012, there will be seven vacancies in the David Thompson Health Advisory Council to be filled. Diana Rowe, a Drumheller resident, is one of the outgoing council members.
“I think this will likely be it for this term, but I’m not sure yet,” said Rowe.
Rowe joined the council when it was first put together three years ago. During that time, the council had quite a bit of work to do to get things started.
“When we started three years ago, we started with no structure and had to do things from scratch. We had to develop our own work plan, so it was quite a process we went through. I feel I’ve helped them get organized and now it might be time to step back and let others take it forward,” said Rowe.
Health Advisory Councils were established in 2009 and facilitate discussion between communities and Alberta Health Services. Members volunteer and engage the public in dialogue about health services, provide feedback for what is working well in the health system and suggest areas for improvement, and promote opportunities to get communities engaged in health topics.
“We are a liaison between the Health Board and the community, so the board can hear from the communities and learn what the issues are. I think, because we have more of a pulse of what’s happening in our communities, they [the Health Board] realizes how important our role is,” said Rowe.
With fellow Drumheller Health Advisory Council member Councillor Sharel Shoff, Rowe has helped bring Drumheller issues to the forefront and assisted health services in town.
“For example we learned we were about to have a shortage of physicians, so we took that forward and Sharel Shoff and I attended a Rural Physician Action Plan Conference in November. We got a lot of ideas that we were able to bring back and work with the committee working on recruitment of physicians for Drumheller. I feel like we’ve made a difference in the areas we’ve helped,” said Rowe.
The Health Advisory Council for David Thompson meets monthly and holds public meetings six times per year. Anyone wishing to apply to the council is encouraged to consider the commitment required.
“As we grew and developed, we found it was really important to make sure incoming members understood the commitment. The one thing I would encourage is anyone who volunteers have a good grasp of all we’ll be doing and what the commitment is and come in with an open mind. You’ll be representing our community for the betterment of our region,” said Rowe.
Applications for the council can be found online at www.albertahealthservices.ca/hac, emailing community.engagement@albertahealthservices.ca, or by calling 1-877-275-8830. The deadline to apply is September 5, 2012.
