Nurses and staff at the Drumheller Health Centre will be participating in an information walk/rally near the hospital to raise concerns about the government’s direction in health care.

The Information Walk is part of a cross-province effort by the United Nurses of Alberta  (UNA) to show support for publicly delivered health care and the frontline workers.

RN and UNA Local 74 president Priscilla Wright said while the provincial effort is by the UNA, in Drumheller, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) has been invited to join the rally. This could include Licensed Practical Nurses, health care aides, and support staff. 

“We are trying to raise awareness to the Alberta public about the government’s decision to lay off hundreds of nurses across Alberta,” said Wright.

She said that patients’ safety is one of the major concerns, and staffing levels play into that.

“They are looking to make cuts to our services and it is going to impact patient safety. They also want to make cuts to our collective bargaining agreements and we are advocating against rollbacks and we are advocating for safe staffing levels,” she said.

She adds there are concerns about hospital closures and the privatization of healthcare.

 Recently the government released a performance review of Alberta Health Services completed by Ernst and Young. It outlined a number of ways to reduce the costs of the healthcare system. While the government hasn’t indicated what in the report will be adopted and prioritized, the Minister of Health said they are not planning to close hospitals.

 Wright says the government is looking to reconfigure and there are quite a few procedures that are recommended to become non-essential.

While there is much speculation on what changes may come in terms of delivery, the ambiguity is concerning.

           “They are saying they’ll have more information in May, so we are all just up in the air,” she said.

The Information Walk is to take place on the pathway north of the Drumheller Health Centre on Thursday, February 13 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"Our main concern is to provide safe, quality patient care and provide a public health care system to Albertans,” said Wright.  

“It is concerning that our new government is willing to make changes to things that will ultimately affect those things we value.”

    It has just become a lot easier for residents to connect with the Town of Drumheller with the launch of a new civic engagement tool - the SeeClickFix App.
    This App provides residents a simple way to report issues to the Town and track the status of their request through to resolution.
    “This app is an easy and convenient way for residents to submit non-emergency service requests. They are also then able to monitor the progress on the issue,” said Mayor Heather Colberg. “Council and administration are determined to increase two-way communications with the community and this App is a great step forward in achieving this aim.”
    This reporting mobile App will allow residents to report issues such as potholes, weeds, unsightly property, and water odor. It uses the phone’s location device to locate and map issues. It links similar reports, from different users together. These issues would then be sent to the appropriate person. The complainant will get a report the work is complete if they requested being informed.
    “For staff, SeeClickFix provides an intuitive way to keep track of requests, communicate between departments, and close the loop with residents. The App includes a high-quality Customer Record Management (CRM) system which will improve the work order management system and create a transparent (for both staff and residents) issue management process,” said CAO Darryl Drohomerski.
    There was $15,000 allocated in the capital budget to develop the app and $7,500 from the operating budget for hosting and updates. SeeClickFix came in under budget at $5,000 a year.