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Mental health top concern at health care hearing
Susan Thompson
for Smoky River Express
Mental health is a major concern for the Smoky River region, health care, advocates say.
However, representatives from various healthcare groups in the region feel healthcare in the province is also threatened in general.
Health care advocates and members of the general public met with NDP leader Brian Mason and MLA Rachel Notley in Grande Prairie on Oct. 14 to air their concerns about the direction of health care in Alberta. The hearing was part of a series of public hearings being held across the province by the NDP.
“People were looking for some kind of outlet,” says Andony Melathopoulos,
Secretary of the Peace Health Coalition.
“The fact people came out to an NDP event even when they’re not the sitting government shows there’s a real appetite to do this. There is a hope the government will slow down and take notice, because they really should be the ones doing this.”
The NDP will table a report in the legislature after the provincial hearings have concluded.
Melathopoulos says most people feel the government isn’t listening to them or giving them enough information about what’s happening. He says part of the problem is the demise of community health councils since the formation of Alberta Health Services (AHS).
“Peace Country Health had really done a good job with the community health councils,” he says. “The fact that whole thing was washed away before the reforms even started starts everything off on the wrong foot. When that’s how the reforms start, with years of development to understand the healthcare needs of the region discarded, it’s no wonder people feel like they’re not getting enough information.”
Some of the people who participated in the hearing included representatives from Odyssey House in Grande Prairie, Chief of Staff at the Beaverlodge Hospital Dr. David Miller, the Northern representative of the United Nurses Association (UNA), High Prairie town council member Wilfred Willier, the Beaverlodge Women’s Hospital Auxiliary, and members of the Friends of the Beaverlodge Hospital.
Falher’s Jean Moore presented on behalf of the Smoky River Health Coalition.
“A major concern for the Smoky River Health Coalition is mental health,” Moore said at the hearing. “Our region has one of the highest rates of suicide in the province. In addition, the McLennan hospital provides between 70 and 80 beds each year for persons with depression or mental health issues.”
Moore says it’s because of lack of beds and supports for mental health patients.
Like Melathopoulos, Moore also pointed to organizational changes as part of the problem.
“Prior to the amalgamation, the Regional Mental Health Advisory Councils (RMHAC) worked closely with the regional health boards and communities to promote awareness of mental health issues and to provide person with mental health issues support in their ongoing struggle to cope with their illness,” she said. “When amalgamation occurred our main concern was mental health. We believed amalgamation would set mental health back 50 years, and what we feared is happening.”
Moore told the hearing that the bed closures announced for Alberta Hospital, a mental health facility in Edmonton, will not only affect Edmonton.
“This closure will affect our region as well as other regions in the province. The Health Minister is saying patients who lose their bed in Alberta Hospital will be placed in community facilities or they will place patients in local hospitals,” Moore said. “As we are all aware, there are no community facilities. So, this means the hospitals will become babysitters for people with mental health issues.”
Most of the presenters agreed that mental health issues are a major concern in the Peace Country, and also that mental health services are not easily available due to staff shortages and lack of facilities.
Dr. David Miller focussed on the need for more access to family doctors, the importance of rural hospitals and adequate funding for healthcare.
The future of Beaverlodge Hospital was also a key issue.
“We’re really concerned it’s already pre-ordained that the hospital will be re-purposed,” says Melathopoulos.
Moore says she was mainly disappointed that more people didn’t come out to the hearings.
“People should be more aware and more active, because if not they’re going to lose their health care system.”
The Peace Health Care Coalition organized a rally for healthcare in Grande Prairie on Oct. 18 that attracted some 60 people. The rally featured Dave Eggen from Friends of Medicare.
Friends of Medicare has also been holding town hall meetings across the province, the latest of which attracted some 500 people in Edmonton.
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