LAKELAND – Minister of Primary and Preventative Health Services Adriana LaGrange said the 14 new regional advisory councils formed by the province will help ensure rural voices are heard.
During a July 22 round table session with members of the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA), the newly formed councils aim to provide local and regional perspectives on healthcare issues, planning and priorities, and ensuring decisions reflect the unique realities of their respective communities, according to the minister.
Rural representation
LaGrange said the selection process for council members had broad representation across the province in mind, including a focus on rural communities.
Securing rural voices is important, she said. “We know that we often have issues in recruitment and retainment of healthcare professionals across our rural remote areas of the province and we want to make sure that changes.”
“Being from the Red Deer area myself, I know that sometimes if you're outside of Edmonton and Calgary that you feel that you're not getting the representation,” said LaGrange.
Having rural representation should also enable a better way to identify gaps in rural health services.
“Everyone should have access to good [and] quality health care that is equitable across the province,” said the minister.
Scope
The advisory councils are composed of volunteers working in the healthcare sector, as well as community leaders. They will advise the government on all health-related matters, including emergency medical services (EMS), paramedics, and ambulances.
The process of advising the government will involve councils engaging with their respective communities to hear concerns.
Councils may, if necessary, also be asked to investigate specific areas or questions from the government, conducting groundwork using their engagement budget.
So far recruitment for regional advisory councils has been successful, with 13 councils established and operational. Recruitment for the Indigenous Advisory Council is nearing completion. While some initial recruitment challenges for specific locations occurred, targeted efforts filled those positions, said LaGrange.
New structure and direct access
Asked what makes the new advisory councils different from advisory councils in the past, LaGrange said the new council will inform the government, and not Alberta Health Services (AHS).
AHS is transitioning to a service provider role, operating alongside other providers like Covenant Health, she said.
“So, AHS is not going to be the purveyor of all healthcare in the province,” said the minister.
This means the councils will have a direct line to LaGrange and other health-related ministers, allowing them to provide input directly to the government. Input is shared through various channels, including annual reports.
The Advisory Council Secretariat will submit recommendations and insights from the councils to the relevant departments, ministers, and provincial health agencies.
The new councils will also operate within a health corridor structure, shifting from the previous five zones to seven new corridors.
She said the change is based on a previously conducted assessment concluding the former zone structure was often impractical.
For example, Vegreville, being in the central zone, would have patients transported to Red Deer Regional Hospital for services, even though travel to Edmonton would be a more common and practical approach due to proximity.
Design for the corridors involved heat mapping the province to understand actual travel patterns for accessing healthcare supports and services, according to LaGrange, explaining corridors are intended to align with how people normally travel and access care. It should also help identify service gaps based on these patterns.
“It was very deliberate to make sure that we are, in fact, having the right types of services in those areas. So now we can identify where the gaps are in the normal travel patterns,” she said.
The new health corridors also aim to address previous rigidities in the zone structure, where ambulances might transport patients to a hospital within their zone, even if a closer or more available facility was in a different zone.
The idea is to better utilize facilities and direct individuals to appropriate care locations, LaGrange said.
The minister acknowledged issues related to specific geographical concerns, such as Slave Lake residents typically traveling to Edmonton rather than Grande Prairie.
While the heat mapping aimed to create optimal travel patterns, fine-tuning of the corridor structure is ongoing for specific cases, she said.
Asked how much influence the councils will truly have on the government, the minister said it would be “a significant amount of influence because they will have a pulse on what is actually happening within the community.”
LaGrange cited her previous experience as Minister of Education, where she used recommendations from advisory councils, including parent, student, and teacher groups, in policy and funding decisions.
“I expect the same, and even more so in health care,” she said.
What’s being done right now
Outside the councils, LaGrange said efforts to increase the number of physicians in the province are showing progress. The number of registered physicians increased from 10,600 in June 2023 to 12,327 now, including family physicians and specialists - with more reportedly moving to rural communities.
Retaining these professionals requires community support, such as assisting with family needs like spousal employment and children's education. Communities are implementing various methods, such as welcome groups or concierge services, to help healthcare professionals feel integrated, reported LaGrange.
The province also implemented other initiatives to address healthcare needs, including a health workforce strategy and a rural strategy.
Collaboration with the Rural Health Professions Action Plan (RhPAP), for example, supports medical residents in rural communities, providing training, and encourages students to pursue rural medical careers.
A new program, Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment (FAST), allows patients on a waitlist for surgery to be referred to the first available physician in the province, even if it is in a different location, expediting access to care.
This program is part of ensuring the new corridor system functions effectively for timely access, according to LaGrange.
