Health care will improve if we work together: MLA Hunter

By Trevor Busch
Taber Times
editor@tabertimes.com

One of the key initiatives of Alberta’s UCP government has been tackling the problems associated with health care in the province, which were exacerbated by the recent pandemic, and crippling issues still plague the system in 2024.

Critics have been legion, but one of Premier Danielle Smith’s most immediate solutions has been the upcoming dismantling of Alberta Health Services in favour of four sector-based provincial health agencies: primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health and addiction.

Taber-Warner MLA Grant Hunter believes this transition will go a long way towards alleviating problems with the current AHS system, which he contends had become too top-heavy and ungainly to adequately meet the needs of Albertans.

“My perspective is, AHS just got too big,” said Hunter. “It just was so big that the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing and there was a lot of inefficiencies, just too many things. Healthcare is a very complex industry, and I think by splitting up into the four groups, four individual organizations, (we) can really keep an eye on it, make sure that it’s responsive to Albertans. That’s my hope, is that’s what is the outcome. And I don’t think anybody is arguing that we don’t need to fix something. People don’t like wait times, so we need to fix that. It’s not acceptable for someone to wait 18 months for a knee or a hip replacement. So those things need to be fixed, and we’re hoping that this will do it.”

Smith’s government argues the changes will ensure strong governance and accountability, enhance the role of the Minister of Health and increase government oversight to “direct resources more efficiently to the front lines, support health care professionals and improve overall patient care.”

Hunter says the changes will allow for much more grassroots decision-making rather than a top-down model issuing directives from a board room in a distant capital.

“That’s a big reason why I’m supporting it is because of that reason. I really think that AHS just got too big – they have this thing called the hub and spoke model. And every time I hear those words, all that means is you centralize decision making farther away from where the problem is, and when you go farther away from the problem, it’s a whole lot easier to get it wrong. And I’m not saying that there wasn’t a lot of good things. But we lost a lot of good people because they don’t like those kinds of inefficiencies.”

With big changes in the works, Taber-Warner’s MLA says his government is committed to exploring solutions recommended by those on the front lines. 

“I know that Minister Adriana LaGrange is doing it, since she’s trying to try to make sure that the frontline workers, healthcare professionals, ultimately, in the trenches, have a lot of say in this, because we believe that they have solutions. So she’s taking lots of time to be able to make sure that the transition is done right. There’s going to be people that are not gonna be happy about it. Those people are usually the ones that like the status quo and opposed to change. The status quo wasn’t working for Albertans, so we need to be able to do something that will work for them.”

If people across the board – in government, in the new agencies, and especially patients and everyday users of the system – can work together to make improvements, Hunter is confident the new system will be of benefit to all citizens.

“If everybody is willing to work – and I’ve been to a couple of the breakout sessions – and it seems like people are very interested in making sure we get it right. If everybody’s willing to do that, then I do think that this will be better. And so when you have a universal healthcare system, you have to make sure that you have checks and balances, you’ve got ways of making sure that the system is efficient and there’s no redundancies and red tape. We spend a lot of money on healthcare, as you know, every year, and so we just want to make sure that at the end of the day with this, that we’re given a refresh, and that the outcomes will be better, and so that’s the goal.”

Hunter is positive that LaGrange will be an effective leader throughout the transition period and in launching the new system for Albertans. 

“I don’t have a crystal ball, and so I can’t tell you exactly how it’s going to play out, but I think that they have the right person at the helm with Adriana LaGrange. I think she’s a phenomenal lady, and I think she has some good parliamentary secretaries that have some experience in midfield. I think they can get it right.”