Drumheller Associated Physicians is hosting a Town Hall Meeting this Friday to shed light on potential changes to the delivery of medical services in the valley and the province.
The Alberta Government is focusing on health care in the province. This comes after the release of the Ernst and Young Review, which makes 57 recommendations on delivery. On February 14, Minister of Health, Tyler Shandro, deemed the voluntary mediation used during physician negotiations was unsuccessful and then introduced a new physician funding framework a week later.
Dr. Michael Beach is a family physician in Drumheller and practices anesthesia. He is hoping the community becomes more engaged in what the future of health care could look like in the valley.
‘The main concerns we want people to understand is what changes they can expect to happen to their direct care,” he said. “What that is going to look like in the clinic, with the reality of what we, as family physicians, are going to have to change in the ways we do business. If we don’t make changes, we are simply going to have to close and lock the doors, Businesses are going to go under.”
“Also understanding there is real potential here for the loss of service in our hospital.”
This could affect obstetrics, anesthesia and even the operating room, he says. His concerns go beyond simply remuneration.
“This is more about advocating for care…I am worried about rural service and worry about rural care,” said Beach.
They are holding the meeting to raise awareness within the community, and they are not the only ones. He says several rural communities are holding Town Halls, including one in Sundre that has had more than 45,000 views on Facebook Live. Others are coming up in Canmore and Rocky Mountain House.
“This is a very standard thing that almost every rural community is doing now because every single group of health care professionals in these communities is petrified of what is happening right now and they want to make sure the community is engaged,” said Beach.
“We need community members to feel engaged to get in touch with their MLA, or whatever else they do because unfortunately, our voices alone aren’t enough to change what is happening at this point.”
The Town Hall meeting is slated for Friday, February 28 at 4:30 p.m. at St. Anthony’s School.
