Holiday Season is fast approaching and the fall legislative session is coming to an end. Over the past few months our government has been working hard to prepare for Alberta’s future.
While we are still feeling the effects of the recent recession, our economy is showing early signs of a recovery. Still, until this recovery fully materializes, our fiscal policy will remain one of restraint and balance. We will limit government spending with minimal affect to our core public services.
Health care continues to be one of our main concerns. We are introducing change to ensure the patient – not the system – is the priority. We began implementation by reducing administration, reducing the cost of drugs and laying out a plan for seniors’ housing and continuing care. We also announced a three-year plan to increase access to community resources with almost 800 new spaces for the aging, disabled and mentally ill. This move will see an increase in available acute care beds to relieve emergency department pressures. The driving factors in this shift were to make resources more readily available in the community – where people want them – while addressing wait times. The move has been criticized. But no matter what criticism is leveled, we must never lose sight of our main priority, the patient.
The focus has already spurred innovation in our publicly funded health system. More procedures are done in physician or other health provider offices and through remote or mobile means than ever before. A patient with kidney disease can receive dialysis treatment in a small community instead of in a major hospital. Paramedics will soon be able to treat and release patients instead of making them wait in emergency departments. Minor surgeries take place in physicians’ offices every day. Pharmacists can alter and prescribe medications. These are just a few examples. The role of the hospital is changing to become a center for acute illness. The role of the physician is becoming the coach of the health team, not the only player.
In addition to being your voice in the Legislative Assembly, I have been busy attending a number of events in our constituency. On Nov. 9, I spoke at the Kiwanis Club of Taber for their Monthly Dinner Meeting.
More recently, I was at the Town of Cardston Remembrance Day Ceremony to commemorate and acknowledge the valuable contributions and sacrifices made by past and present members of our armed forces. This was a humbling moment for all of us who owe so much to those who made and continue to make our freedom possible.
On Nov. 13, I had the pleasure to attend the hanging of a quilt made of original Terry Fox t-shirts. The event took place at the Town of Taber Public Library. The quilt will be displayed and used for the purpose of educating our youth. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize all of those who worked on this one of a kind project. Well done!
If you have any questions, concerns or issues you’d like to discuss, please contact my offices in Cardston at 403-653-5100 or in Taber at 403-223-0001. I can also provide congratulatory scrolls for birthdays 65 years and older and wedding anniversaries in five year increments, starting at 25 years.