(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By rdnewsNOW Staff

Speech to Rural Municipalities of Alberta

NDP leader Rachel Notley promises largest healthcare recruitment in Alberta’s history

Nov 10, 2022 | 4:58 PM

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said she promises to restore stability to health care by undertaking the largest recruitment effort in the province’s history if elected Premier next year.

Notley made the remarks in her address at the Rural Municipalities of Alberta (RMA) fall convention this Wednesday as part of her broader strategy to provide better service to rural communities.

“I believe there is no greater challenge facing rural Alberta communities than the chaos in rural healthcare. If we don’t fix this, I fear this will threaten the overall sustainability of rural communities. People will leave and communities will suffer,” said Notley.

Across the province, she says Albertans currently lack access to health care as doctors and frontline workers leave the profession due to retirement and burnout.

According to the Primary Care Network, there are no doctors in Peace River currently accepting patients. Shown on the Alberta Health Services (AHS) website, the Hardisty Health Centre has been closed since April 2020, with anticipation to open Nov. 15, and one-third of Beaverlodge’s acute care space has been unusable for the past 14 months. Notley goes on to say that Stettler, Consort, Sylvan Lake, Boyle, Elk Point, Fairview, and Westlock have also had scheduled ER closures in the last six months due to lack of staff.

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Meanwhile, Notley referenced the recent new funding agreement reached with physicians in British Columbia, deemed a “seismic shift” and the best agreement in the country by Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, President of Doctors of B.C. The agreement is said to address many of the concerns doctors have voiced, including the time and costs associated with administration, and the need for primary care to be better integrated with the rest of the health system and social services.

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“We need to act now – before these problems get worse. What we need is careful, thoughtful reform that addresses the real issues. We need to trust science and focus on real solutions,” said Notley. “Then, we need to restore respect for frontline healthcare workers who have done so much in unimaginable and unprecedented circumstances and add more people to the frontlines.”

Notley said details of the recruitment strategy will be released in the coming weeks and will include ideas to support family doctors and medical professionals, like nurse practitioners, paramedics, dieticians, home care workers and mental health counsellors, to move to Alberta.

She says it will also include new initiatives and targets for training health care professionals within the province, as well as working deliberately to remove the barriers keeping international grads from practicing in Alberta.

Her speech addressed various other topics including mental health, municipalities, seniors’ plans, economy and more.

Regarding mental health, Notley said she will provide all Albertans with five free mental health counselling sessions per year.

For seniors, she said she aims to restore the pre- 2019 plan to build more seniors housing, re-index the Seniors’ Benefit, and place more Albertans back onto the seniors’ drug plan.

On an economic level, she references the NDP’s Alberta’s Futures project. She attributes this year’s $13 billion provincial surplus to high royalties in oil and gas and has hired former ATB Chief Economist Todd Hirsch to work with Finance Critic Shannon Phillips to provide advice on how to get the best possible return on investment from the funds.

For municipalities, she said she intends to enter into a new funding agreement with legislation called the Partners in Prosperity Act to ensure stable and predictable funding.

Regarding Alberta-focused concerns on the national stage, she discussed pipeline projects and broadband internet.

Her full speech at the RGM, provided by the NDP, can be found below: