Friends of Medicare says upcoming provincial budget needs focus on health-care capacity

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on February 22, 2025.

asmith@medicinehatnews.com

With the 2025 provincial budget coming up quickly, Friends of Medicare is hoping to see a focus on building public health-care capacity.

“The ongoing short-staffing crisis continues to compromise the care Albertans are receiving in every part of our health-care system. But instead of taking action to improve our public capacity and end workforce shortages, the UCP government’s only focus has been to drastically restructure health care administration,” says executive director Chris Gallaway.

He says FoM wants to see a plan to retain frontline health-care workers, as well as recruiting and training new ones. The health advocacy group also says the province’s current trajectory of securing private contracts for various aspects of health services is a continued concern.

“Every time the government announces another contract to a for-profit health-care provider they promise it will bring down costs, improve quality and shorten wait times for Albertans. Yet every time, the opposite has come true,” said Gallaway.

“We need to start putting our focus and public funding where it will actually benefit patients,” said Galloway. “In next week’s budget, we need to see a plan to grow our capacity by spending our precious public dollars on meaningful investment in our public operating rooms and hospitals, especially in light of the very concerning ongoing allegations about surgical procurement.”

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