EDMONTON — On Friday heading into the long weekend, the provincial government revealed their plans for a comprehensive rebrand of our Emergency Health Services, now to be known as “ALTA Paramedic Health.” No specific costing for the rebranding was provided.

Initial Budget Response from Chris Gallaway, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare:

EDMONTON — Earlier today, the Premier released new mandate letters for the four ministers now responsible for pieces of our public health care system.

EDMONTON — As we head into mid-July, Alberta now has higher measles cases per capita than anywhere else in North America. Dozens of emergency rooms and health care facilities are experiencing closures due to chronic short staffing, while the government’s restructuring and privatization agenda continues to create chaos for health care workers and patients.

EDMONTON — Yesterday, an important new report was released by the Parkland Institute entitled, “Undervalued and Overstretched: Inequity, Discrimination, and the Crisis Facing Alberta’s Allied Health-Care Workforce.” It outlines the conditions driving widespread burnout and retention issues among Alberta’s health care workers.

EDMONTON — SMG Medical Complex is a proposal to build a massive, 14-storey, private, for-profit health care facility in Fort McMurray. This contentious project has doubled in size from its initial proposal, and now promises to provide numerous services including chartered surgeries, ambulatory care, and “luxurious accommodations." They have launched a website seeking investors where they promise eight to 10 percent returns on investments, plus further opportunities for profits from “those willing to pay out of pocket.”

EDMONTON - This afternoon, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange announced two new contracts with private partners to provide interfacility transfer services, with work underway to further expand this privatization initiative across the province. These services are currently publicly provided.

This morning Health Minister Jason Copping provided an update of their government’s plans for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), including privatization of inter-facility transfers.

EDMONTON — A year ago, Friends of Medicare warned that the government’s appointment of an EMS advisory panel was laying the groundwork for privatization within our EMS system. Today we were proven right. Rather than spending the last year working to improve EMS and fill the thousands of vacant shifts, the government spent that time lining things up for further privatization through contracting out.

This guest column appeared in the Medicine Hat News on October 13.

Whether it’s drug poisonings, heat waves, EMS Red Alerts or COVID-19 – the UCP government have consistently obstructed the collecting and sharing of good data in decision making

EDMONTON — The recent article by independent investigative journalist Charles Rusnell, “The Opioid Toll, by Neighbourhood, that Alberta Tried to Hide,” paints a damning picture of how the UCP government operates. The article shows that rather than formulate their response to the ongoing drug poisoning crisis with good evidence, the provincial government hid important information from the public that contradicted its ideological approach. The government has since refused calls from harm reduction groups to release recovery and treatment program data.