Members of the United Nurses of Alberta’s North District stood outside of the Pomeroy Hotel on March 12th to express their concerns regarding the provincial government’s decision to “not massively overhaul” the structure of AHS.
Provincial Health Minister LaGrange was inside the hotel holding a discussion as part of an ongoing effort by the province to hear feedback on the status of healthcare in Alberta; however, Danielle Larivee, First Vice President for United Nurses of Alberta says some of her members feel like they have not been heard by the province.
“We’ve had members in other locations at those sessions who really didn’t feel heard so if we’re not going to be heard inside, we’re going to be out here outside, saying what we need to say,” she says.
According to Larivee, it is the UNA’s position that municipalities across Alberta, particularly in the north, are suffering due to a shortage of healthcare workers. She says historically, recruiting has been difficult in the north, but shortages seem to be at an all-time high.
“There’s an absolute critical shortage of doctors and nurses on the front line across the province,” she says. “Once in a while we’d have some closures over the summer when we had vacations and things, but now we have closures all the time, we’ve never seen that before.”
Larivee says the problem lies within the province’s choice to restructure Alberta Health’s organizational chart, rather than address the issues health workers and patients continue to face in Alberta.
“We are in a crisis at this point, but instead of putting every bit of energy of health into dealing with that crisis, we’re hearing that they’re more focused on changing the org chart within Alberta Health,” she says. “This is the wrong time to change who’s responsible for who, that actually creates uncertainty, and is also going to lead to delays in decision-making and the kind of action we need on healthcare.”
Larivee says the UNA will continue sharing their perspectives on the matter with Alberta Health Services and Minister LaGrange with hopes that more Albertans recognize “they need to demand that they take action,” as the health service worker shortage continues.
