Ed’s Unkept Promises
Mrs. Forsyth: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today I will table a letter from February of 2008 in which the Premier acknowledged that the province’s emergency rooms were overcrowded. In it he promised to direct the then minister of health to establish an expert panel of emergency physicians to develop a plan to address this situation. To the Premier: why didn’t you live up to your commitment in forming an expert panel?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, I’m sure I know which letter the member is referring to because she was on the other side when she received the letter. The letter stipulates in terms of what government is committed to do; that is, to increase the number of spaces for training physicians, increase the number of spaces for training nurses in the province, increase the number of spaces for other health care professionals, and work with all in the system, including doctors and nurses, to ensure that we improve the performance, that we reduce waiting times, and improve access to health care in this province.
Mrs. Forsyth: Well, Mr. Speaker, that’s why I’m on this side and not on that side. Given that the Premier and the minister of health spent a lot of time talking about putting patients first, why has it taken so long for the Premier to keep his two-and-a-half-year-old promise to create this critically needed expert panel and, for that matter, plan?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, the minister has consulted with physicians. He has consulted with physicians not only in terms of bone and joint surgery but also eye surgery and has consulted with emergency room physicians as well. They are part of putting a plan forward in terms of reducing the access time. At the end of the day we do have to train more physicians in Alberta, train more doctors, and we are well under way on that plan.
Mrs. Forsyth: Well, Mr. Speaker, we’ve seen what’s happened with the bone and joint, and we’ve also seen what’s happened with the eye care.
My final question is to the Premier. Given that emergency room overcrowding has now reached a critical breaking point – and I’m not asking for more money, Mr. Premier – will the Premier redirect funding from what should be lower priority initiatives such as your provincial branding, which no one can remember, in order to address this situation immediately?
Mr. Stelmach: In fact, we already have. We never spent all the money that was put into the branding initiative. We never did spend that money. That money will always move to the highest priority within the operation of government. I believe that there’s about $10 million or $12 million that was not spent on the branding initiative. On the other hand, it’s bigger than just trying to find some quick, easy solution. Some of it is long term in terms of more doctors and more beds. The other is in training. It’s constantly looking to other ways of providing that care. I’m proud to say that the physicians in this province have got together with other allied health care providers, and we’re up to now 32 primary care networks. That’s a step in the right direction.