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All systems go for radiation clinic: minister |
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Written by Dave Mabell Lethbridge Herald
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Wednesday, October 21 2009, 8:58 PM |
The city’s new cancer radiation clinic will be opened — and staffed — next spring.
But Ron Liepert, the province’s health minister, says other planned improvements at the Lethbridge hospital may be delayed several more years.
And decisions have yet to be made, he said Wednesday, about long-term plans for seniors who need nursing home care in communities like Cardston or Taber.
Here to view Lethbridge health-care facilities, Liepert also took part in an editorial board meeting at The Herald. Later Wednesday, he was to speak at a Progressive Conservative fundraiser for the Lethbridge West constituency.
Liepert was here to launch construction on the enlarged clinic, he pointed out.
“Clearly we are not going to build a new facility and not staff it.”
That’s been the story at several Calgary hospitals, however, where additions launched during a previous minister’s term resulted in no gains in staffing or patient accommodation.
Equipment at the relocated and expanded Lethbridge facility, substantially complete, is being tested over the next few months. The radiation treatments will complement chemotherapy and surgical procedures already offered cancer patients here.
The $33.7-million Lethbridge clinic, he pointed out, will be followed by similar projects in Red Deer and Grande Prairie. But it’s not likely to be followed immediately by other renovations and improvements at the hospital.
Plans for a new wing along with main-floor improvements, estimated at about $141 million, were given preliminary approval several years ago. They were to include upgraded maternal and delivery facilities, a larger emergency department and other improvements.
An initial $70 million was earmarked in the health department’s three-year capital plan, but Liepert said Wednesday spending may be spread over four or five years.
“We are all under pressure to look at our capital spending.”
Capital projects were a $6-billion item in his health-care budget, Liepert said. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be receiving that much in the next few years.
Private and non-profit operators are building facilties for seniors, however. Liepert visited the recently opened St. Therese assisted living centre on Wednesday and similar projects are underway in Cardston and Taber.
While many seniors may enjoy living in those new facilities, Liepert said others will still need nursing home care. No decisions have been made on where they’ll live when current nursing care facilities close, he said. Nursing homes in Lethbridge may be their closest option.
“We can’t necessarily provide the same level of care in every community in the province,” he said.
Liepert also met nursing students and health sciences professors at the University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, assuring them bachelor of nursing graduates will ultimately find jobs in Alberta.
Many of the province’s RN or BN openings are being filled “internally” right now, he said. People already in the profession are working more shifts.
But the minister said Alberta graduates who’ve found work in Saskatchewan, for example, will be ready to vie for openings in Alberta as baby boomers continue to retire.
There’s always been considerable mobility between the two provinces, said Liepert — from Saskatchewan himself.
“I believe we have the best environment for nurses,” including pay and opportunity.
Enrolments in the province’s bachelor of nursing programs have stepped up in recent years, he noted, and there are no plans to scale that back.
Stories of hiring freezes and cutbacks continue to circulate, however, and local Friends of Medicare staged a protest outside the Lethbridge Lodge as Liepert arrived for his fundraising dinner. The group has also announced plans for a rally at noon Saturday on the steps of city hall.
For Liepert, those protests are a signal the government is not afraid of making decisions. Some people will always fear change, he said.
“In the dying days of Ralph Klein’s time, frankly, little was getting done,” he said.
Now the Ed Stelmach government is making some decisions, “and you’re going to make some people unhappy.”
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