Richard Froese

Rural regions need and deserve better healthcare services!

High Prairie Health Complex has one of the finest modern healthcare facilities in rural Alberta. When the new health complex opened in April 2017, community leaders and residents of the region gave it rave reviews.

In the past few years, Big Lakes County council has been lobbying the provincial government and Alberta Health Services for many enhanced and added services. A delegation of council members discussed issues at a meeting March 18 with Yellowhead MLA Martin Long, parliamentary secretary for rural health.

Long sent a letter May 22 to council and responded to requests for a helipad, obstetrics, opening a second operating room, staff recruitment and retention, hospital privileges for physicians, opening a cancer care centre in designated available space and building a helipad on site.

Reeve Tyler Airth responded to Long’s letter which states, “profound disappointment with the current outcomes concerning health service delivery” in the High Prairie region.

Airth and council requested a follow-up meeting with Long “to discuss these critical issues in detail and to explore tangible solutions that will address these pressing healthcare needs”.

“We strongly believe these issues warrant immediate and thorough reconsideration,” Airth states in the letter dated June 28.

It’s also imperative that Lesser Slave Lake MLA Scott Sinclair become active in the vital issue of healthcare service in a region in his constituency.

Letters from Airth and Long have been forwarded to the MLA, so he is well aware of the issues and concerns by local governments and residents.

About six years ago, Big Lakes council began a strategy to create and update briefing documents on various issues in lobbying government on various issues such as health care.

It’s time to step up the pressure from the region, not just from Big Lakes.

It needs to become a regional effort – a regional partnership.

The facility doesn’t serve just Big Lakes, it’s a regional health complex.

It also serves the Town of High Prairie and several Indigenous communities of Kapawe’no First Nation, Sucker Creek First Nation, Driftpile Cree Nation, Swan River First Nation, Whitefish Lake First Nation, Gift Lake Metis Settlement, Peavine Metis Settlement and East Prairie Metis Settlement.

If people and communities want more, better and enhanced services closer to home, they need to join the efforts of Big Lakes.

Big Lakes can reach out and request neighbouring municipalities and Indigenous communities join the force.

Or those local governments can extend their support to Big Lakes as a partner.

More voices representing more people will only add to the pressure.