On Thursday afternoon, over 30 local residents attended an event put on by Alberta Health at the Cretaceous Conference Centre.
This was the second round of consultation with the public about the changes to Alberta Health and refocusing the health care system. Matthew Hebert, Assistant Deputy Minister of System Refocusing for Alberta Health, shares the importance of getting the public’s input in these changes to healthcare. “It’s important for us because we want to make sure we hear the views and the concerns of all Albertans, wherever they live. Healthcare touches every Albertan in their home community, and that is why we’ve returned to about 65 communities across this province. As we continue to work on building the refocused healthcare system, the very firm commitment from Alberta Health was to listen and to engage with Albertans as we do the work.”
The importance of Alberta Health sharing the evolution of the healthcare system and what has changed already, is a major reason for returning to the 65 communities that were visited last year, acknowledges Hebert. “Since refocus was announced in November 2023, we so far have started three of the provincial health agencies. The first focused on addictions and mental health, the next one on primary care, the acute care focused agency will start its legal operations this Saturday (February 1st), and then the continuing care provincial health agency is also being worked on and the Department of Seniors, Community, Social Services will have more to share about that in the days and weeks to come.”
These sessions are again another opportunity to share what is working with healthcare and what needs work, on a local level. Hebert and his team will again take this information provided at each of these sessions to help apply to the changes moving forward. “If you look at what we did with the information we got from the engagement sessions last year, we did roll out a ‘What We Heard’ report that was focused on seven themes that reflected the feedback we received. We’ve released a report that aligns a number of different actions and a number of different plans against the ‘What We Heard’ report. We will continue to listen to Albertans, continue to ensure that the themes and the work that we do reflect those concerns, and wherever possible, we will continue to make sure that we share information on progress as we go.”
The second round of sessions is only in its infancy but Hebert and his team have seen positive response from the attendees. “The response has been good so far. I feel there is a lot of appreciation for Alberta Health returning to these communities. I think a lot of Albertans seem to be interested in the progress so far, but again, individuals are bringing forward concerns and opportunities of what they see in their local communities, and we will continue to listen to them over the duration of the refocus work.”
The progress continues with the new four agencies, Primary Care Alberta, Acute Care Alberta, Assisted Living Alberta, and Recovery Alberta. Alberta Health Services will continue as the operator of the health care facilities across the province, along with Covenant Health. To learn more about the changes that have taken place and the future changes to our health care system, visit Alberta Health’s website.
If you missed your opportunity to attend and would like to participate, there will be another session in Hanna in April. You can register through the Government of Alberta’s Lead The Way website.
Comments