Patients and health care workers in Alberta are suffering the impacts of a wide-spread short staffing crisis throughout our public health care system. But instead of listening to those on the front-lines and working to address it, our provincial government is pursuing an aggressive privatization agenda that will only make things worse.

Today’s CBC story highlights the lengths that this government will go to in order to push their privatization agenda on Albertans. A new private orthopedic surgical facility—the largest ever in Alberta—has been proposed on the site of Ericksen Nissan, next to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, and has already gained the Minister of Health’s “tentative political support.” 

On July 30, 2020, Friends of Medicare hosted an online discussion about the recently passed Bill 30 and it's impacts on both patients and health care workers. FOM's executive director Sandra Azocar, along with panelists Dr. Jillian Ratti and Dr. Lorian Hardcastle, sat down to explore the contents of Bill 30, discuss the ways that it opens the door to the privatization of our public health care, and answer questions from concerned Albertans.

On July 8, 2020 MLA Tany Yao introduced Bill 204: Voluntary Blood Donations Repeal Act. This work-shy, mere 3-page bill simply calls for the repeal of the Voluntary Blood Donations Act (2017). It offers no alternative to address our current dependency on US plasma-derived products, and no reason to necessitate this repeal, except to further this government’s never ending quest to privatize our public resources.

Friends of Medicare’s initial statement on Bill 30

July 6, 2020

The announcement of Bill 30: Health Statutes Amendment Act, made by Health Minister Tyler Shandro today, highlights this government’s demonstrated lack of commitment to Albertans’ public health care. If passed, the omnibus bill would make sweeping changes to Albertans’ health care, including repealing or changing 9 pieces of existing health legislation.

“Bill 30 represents yet another step in the systemic process of privatization that this government has been committed to since prior to the election,” says Sandra Azocar, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. “It signals that this government is unable or unwilling to learn the necessary lessons from a pandemic that has made abundantly clear the importance of a responsive public health care system.”

EDMONTON — Yesterday, the Alberta government announced that they would be committing an additional $170 million for AHS-contracted continuing care facilities, to offset the loss of ‘revenues’ that have resulted from this pandemic. The announcement indicated that this funding is intended to be used for enhanced staffing and additional cleaning supplies, as well as to compensate continuing care providers for lost accommodation revenue. A total of $14.2 million will be provided every month, retroactive to March 15th, and until orders from Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health have been lifted.