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Editorial: All I want for Christmas is a new health care system
Commentary by Emily Plihal
for South Peace News
I’ve decided all I want for Christmas is a completely modified health care system.
Not normally a critic of the Progressive Conservative party of Alberta, now is the first time . . . and unlikely the last I feel it necessary to tear a strip off our elected party.
Although Stephen Duckett (hired to be the president and chief executive officer of Alberta Health Services), once appeared to be a highly-educated individual who would turn our medical crisis around, I have started questioning his abilities and morals.
Starting with our nurse-hiring freeze. I feel incredibly remorseful for these nurses graduating from our University Registered Nurse programs who find themselves unemployed after four years of study.
Registered nurses are the backbone of any hospital. Now after recent battles, the provincial government is considering decreasing the number of RNs employed at local hospitals and increasing the number of LPNs (two-year course).
The RNs have been looking for employment in other provinces recently, all of who promise a signing bonus and retention contract.
A local politician recently commented, “Even our nurses from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are going home because, ‘there are more jobs down home’.”
Already within our region we are having troubles signing doctors to stay at our rural hospitals because we do not offer enough perks. They expect houses paid for them within a certain distance from the hospital, they require certain types of recreational activities within close range, among many other bonuses.
Sure, Alberta government, scare away our RNs. An RN has four years of medical education, and while I will not put down an LPN, who is just as important in the hospital, I do not believe an RN should be replaced by an LPN.
One argument I heard recently was an LPN could be trained to do an IV, and could learn to do the tasks an RN normally does. I’m sorry, but I’m from the old school, education with experience far outweighs on-hand training.
I would pick someone with four years education plus experience to work on me, rather than an individual who has been shown once how to do an IV.
There are two areas I strongly disagree with cuts in the provincial budget, these include health care and education.
Are all these cuts a result of making health care free to the tax payer? If so, I’d really like to pay the $150 every three months to maintain the quality of care we once had.
There is obviously something incredibly wrong, when a possible pandemic breaks out (H1N1), and hockey players are being vaccinated before those who are high risk.
Obviously our government must have a skewed prospective of what’s important.
I don’t think NHL players classify as high risk.
If our government supports ensuring capital gain instead of the health of the feeble in our society, then maybe it is time for a change.
If Premier Ed Stelmach wants to maintain his job, then maybe he should be questioning his health minister and the choice of Alberta Health Services’ president and chief executive officer.
So what do I propose? Tell Duckett and Health Minister Ron Liepert they should put a hold on some of their ideologies, ensuring the health care system won’t become a third tier system.
Oh wait! I think that’s already occurred.
Congratulations!
Perhaps the elected officials “working for us” should be taking cuts, instead of making cuts to our precious health care system.
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