When the dialysis bus drove into Lac La Biche and provided dialysis treatment to local patients, it would have been nice to leave the story on a happy note. But that just isn't the case.
With a recent break in the water line due to cold weather, service in the bus halted for over a week, causing patients to scramble for a place to receive dialysis treatment. Alberta Health Services officials said they warned patients that the bus may not be able to serve patients if there is inclement weather but that is hardly an excuse to not give patients the health services that they need. Cold weather isn't a new thing for Alberta so why weren't AHS prepared for the cold weather spell?
Because they believe in 'band-aid' solutions for the health care needs of Albertans and unfortunately for the LLB dialysis patients, the dialysis bus is a prime example of another AHS patch job.
When the dialysis bus didn't come to LLB in December thanks to a snowstorm that turned the highways into a snowbank, local dialysis patients couldn't sit around and wait two days to receive treatment.
Cancelling their dialysis treatment is not comparable to cancelling a hair appointment or coffee with a friend, yet AHS seems to think that if they squeeze the patients into St.Paul's or Edmonton's hemodialysis unit, then everything will be righted. But it's not. Patients are then forced to drive a minimum hour and a half commute with low visibility highways and icy roads. If a bus cannot travel during because of the bad road conditions, how they expect the patients to be able to? As long as they are able to get the local patients a spot in another dialysis unit, they wipe their hands clean and leave it up to the patients to figure it out. But behind their lack of compassion and the ridiculous solutions given by the AHS to dialysis patients, is their complete lack of respect for the people. Who in their right mind would send less than healthy people out on the roads, change their schedules around last minute and tamper with their health? It seems Alberta Health Services would. The community needs to come together, let our local politicians know that enough is enough and we need a permanent solution for the dialysis unit. Our residents deserve to have the dialysis unit that they were originally promised: a reliable, local one.
But it seems that the dialysis bus is one story that isn't supposed to get a happy ending.
