Patients will suffer from AHS mistakes

By Letter to the Editor on February 8, 2018.

Alberta Health Services has once again dropped the ball in Medicine Hat. They have done so numerous times regarding the new addition to our hospital.

First there was the water quality issue, which resulted in many delayed surgeries. Next up the roof-top helicopter landing area; it’s still not functional. Transportation Canada informed them a secondary landing site is needed. How is this issue not noticed in the design stages? Now STARS air ambulance will be flying in during the closure of our airport in the spring. If I recall, STARS a few years ago was unable to reach Medicine Hat according to AHS.

Then there was the closure of the palliative care unit. AHS stated it was under-used; anyone who set foot on that floor knows this is faulty information. AHS’s cost for beds also seems like they could not and can not budget money properly. St. Joseph’s Home’s cost per bed was much lower. Due to a personal experience I can say the care there was much better.

Now AHS is talking about moving the hospital laundry out of Medicine Hat hospital to possibly Lethbridge. AHS states the laundry facility in our hospital is outdated. Why was this not addressed and updated in the current hospital expansion? The shutdown of this department will cost people jobs.

Fingers can be pointed but the current provincial government was not in power when the expansion started. Truth be told I don’t see much effort on the current member of the provincial government to get problems solved. People in Medicine Hat and area who use the hospital will suffer.

People at AHS who could not keep control of the mess should be looking for new jobs. As for the people in the provincial government that should be looking out for Medicine Hat to have the best health care possible — we vote for you or against you.

Greg Rossler

Medicine Hat

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