Wednesday marked a day that Town of St. Paul Mayor Glenn Andersen had been pushing for since the Wellness Centre opened its doors – a visit from an Alberta Health minister to show off the facility, and chat about rural health care.
Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman arrived at St. Paul’s Wellness Centre shortly after 1 p.m., where she was greeted and taken on a tour of the facility, which houses many of the town’s doctors, but also other health care oriented organizations such as the Primary Care Network, and the Lakeland MS Society.
“It’s a lovely tour, it’s a beautiful facility,” said Hoffman, after the tour. She added, it was “nice to see such happy workers.”
The facility was a Town of St. Paul initiative to help attract health care professionals to the community, which is continues to strive for. Another aim of Wednesday’s visit was to talk about regional collaboration, not only between municipalities, but also between the physicians themselves.
Hoffman said that during the quick meeting she had with local politicians, the conversation centered on the needs of the region, and ensuring specialists who are here are being used at full capacity.
The collaboration initiative involves the communities of St. Paul, Elk Point, Bonnyville and Cold Lake, with doctor spearheading efforts to work closer together, share specialty services, and fill in gaps that exist in the system to better serve patients.
“We’re really fortunate that all the docs in the region have stood up together. They’ve got a vision. And that’s the way it should be . . . they see the demand in our area,” said Cold lake Mayor Craig Copeland, after the minister’s visit in St. Paul.
Andersen said he was happy with the minister’s visit, and looks forward to continuing the regional initiative, which will allow for the region to work together and enhance services, rather than “competing at the medical level.”
Copeland said he felt that over the years, the region has not received much funding for its health care.
“All you have to do is look at our hospitals,” said Copeland, adding, it can be frustrating. But by pooling together, Copeland believes it can have a positive effect.
Using a regional approach will increase the population that the services are reaching to about 50,000 people, which makes it easier to compete with communities like Red Deer and Medicine Hat, on a provincial-funding level.
Rikus Botha, whose wife is a doctor in St. Paul, lead Minister Hoffman on most of the tour of the Wellness Centre on Wednesday. After the tour, Botha also spoke on the importance of the regional collaboration initiative, saying, “It’s easier for the physicians to speak to one another and to know where the shortcomings are.”
Copeland and Andersen agreed, saying it’s a huge benefit that the doctors themselves are spearheading the initiative. The elected officials are simply acting as a voice.
After the tour and meeting, Hoffman was available to speak on a few local topics. When asked about any improvements to help better access to walk-in clinics, the minister said that although many clinics operate as individual businesses, the provincial government is working to ensure those clinics are offering extended hours.
She noted that while on her tour of the Wellness Centre, she was introduced to a doctor who has an evening walk-in clinic once a week, which is a positive. She also noted the importance of the 8-1-1 service, where people can call and talk to a nurse about health issues, and can then be directed on what action they should take.
Related to that issue, she also spoke briefly on wait times at Emergency Room.
“Only go the Emergency Room when you’re in a state of emergency,” said Hoffman, adding, the province is working towards its goal of adding 2,000 long-term care beds throughout the province, which can alleviate ER wait times.
When speaking on health care in rural communities, Hoffman said it is a goal to have the right professionals working throughout all of Alberta, but this doesn’t always mean doctors. It can mean health care aids, midwives, and other health care professionals too.
“Obviously, it’s ideal if you can have every expert in every community. That probably isn’t attainable to be very frank.” But there are other ways to ensure access to services, rather than having more professionals in rural communities, such as having a health-focused transportation system in place, which is something that communities in B.C. have done, she added.
Hoffman also spoke briefly on the province’s efforts to act on the recommendations put forward by the mental health review, and ambulance services in the region.
