Strathcona County Hospital

Fourteen months from now, you and I will be walking into a brand new mega medical facility, called phase one. This 130 million dollar facility will be 24/7 Urgent Care.

I noticed in one of the budget reports that there is $50 million remaining in the capital plan, including $28 million in costs after the facility opens. If $28 million has been held back for additional services in the phase 1 fiscal plan, is this not an opportunity to use it for additional diagnostics and medical services?

Planning, building and maintaining hospitals and schools is indeed under provincial jurisdiction. However, as a municipal elected official, I believe we do have a role to play. If we truly want to benefit our taxpayers, we will not blame the government for a negative economic climate that brought delays and cut backs all over Alberta, but we could instead support their efforts to get phase one up and running to offer top rate medical services to our families. We can do that by working with the community to identify a clear set of priorities for this hospital as it moves forward.

We can ask our residents and doctors to identify what services are critical (like 24-hour urgent care) and which have the highest need in our area. This will allow us as a community to better lobby for what we want. Each hospital offers a unique blend of services. What set of services is best for this community? Do we need a birthing unit or neonatal care facility; a dialysis unit or rehabilitation services?

Moreover, it is time we think regionally, let’s stop naval gazing. We need to plan not only for the needs of our own municipality...but to look at what complements the existing medical services of the hospitals near us. Doesn’t it make sense to look at the waiting lines for scopes and dialysis in Edmonton? If we had those services here, it would reduce wait times in their facilities. Once we meet our own demands we could provide additional capacity for the region.

We need to be proactive to ensure that our new mega facility will meet our needs. Let’s do needs assessment: clearly identify our service needs, create a clear list, and then lobby government for that list. By working together with local doctors and MLA's, and regional stakeholders toward a common cause, we can truly benefit the health and well being of our residents.

As to the full service phase 2 hospital, with its 72 beds - I believe that is today’s fiscal set-back, not tomorrow’s certainty.

I understand that our MLA’s have been working industriously with the Premiere and the Health Minister to keep phase 2 on the top burner. This province releases an annual budget, and as the fortunes of Alberta rise again, and if we work together with our provincial government, I can see both an expanded hospital and a new courthouse in Strathcona County in our near future. I look forward to this Friday’s Sherwood Park News and the update from our MLAs.

Join me tomorrow (Thursday from 4 to 6) at the Summerwood Second Cup to have more conversation on what your family needs in phase one opening June 2014.