EDMONTON — This past Friday, the provincial government announced that they were shutting down the long-COVID outpatient programs, meaning that the clinics in Alberta dedicated to treating people suffering from long-COVID will be closing. The letter from Alberta Health Services informing patients of the closure suggests that they should contact their primary care provider to determine if they require additional resources. This at a time when over 650,000 Albertans are without a family doctor.
“To announce a sudden shut down of the province’s only long-COVID outpatient services is a cruel abandonment of those depending on this specialized care,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “These clinics are crucial for meeting the unique health needs of long-COVID patients. They provide wrap-around supports that are otherwise difficult to coordinate, and expensive to access, if you can find them at all.”
Long-COVID is a real and growing problem that is contributing to the pressure on our public health care system. A Health Canada survey on the long-term effects of COVID found that around 15% of adults who contracted COVID experienced, or still experience, longer-term symptoms 3 or more months following their initial COVID-19 infection. Of the adults with longer-term symptoms, 47% had symptoms for 1 year or longer.
As per government data, 6,534 people in Alberta have died of COVID-19 to date, with 695 of those deaths having occurred within the last 12 months. In the last year, 3,345 Albertans were hospitalized due to COVID, and thousands more Albertans are likely still suffering long-COVID symptoms.
“Rather than take the health care needs of Albertans seriously, the UCP is once again doubling down on anti-science rhetoric, with a UCP MLA even openly talking about banning COVID vaccines in Alberta,” said Gallaway. “COVID is an ongoing public health care issue and should be treated as such. Yet, this closure of long-COVID outpatient services continues Premier Smith and the UCP government’s concerning history of pandering to an extreme political base over the health care needs of Albertans.”
Between a refusal to implement paid sick days for workers, uneven and hastily lifted public health measures, and an utter lack of action to protect children and seniors in care at their most vulnerable, the UCP government has consistently exhibited a pattern of unwillingness to prioritize public health and the health care needs of Albertans throughout the pandemic and its repercussions, in favour of political whims and short-sighted ideological bents.
“While the government continues to play political games with our health care, it’s Albertans and their families who are suffering the consequences. Decisions about health care need to be made based on best medical evidence, full stop,” concludes Gallaway.
Friends of Medicare is calling on Albertans to raise their voices to demand that the provincial government reverse their decision to close the long-COVID clinics. Sign the petition: friendsofmedicare.org/longcovid
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