AHS relocating staff to Melcor Centre; union disturbed over plan

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on May 4, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

Alberta Health Services is in the process of consolidating public and community health programs at the Melcor Centre downtown.
This means all programs in the Health Unit at the old train station will be moving to the Melcor building.
Community addiction and mental heath services, presently provided at the Provincial Building, will be moving to the train station.
An anonymous caller to The Herald on Tuesday provided a tip about the move, saying that not all departments had yet been notified.
A memo obtained by The Herald says Alberta Health Services has been notified “of the need to vacate the Lethbridge Provincial Building by spring 2024 to accommodate Alberta Infrastructure operational requirements. . .
“This presents an opportunity to review and optimize our available spaces for community programs and administrative teams which aligns with the Relaunch and Reimagine Strategy, a strategy that aims to take a balanced approach between utilizing existing owned and leased space,” the memo reads.
“As a result, we will be doing reconfigurations, renovations, and consolidation plans for the Community Health Unit (train station), Melcor Centre and Chinook Regional Hospital. The overall goal is to align programs with the most appropriate patient access and cohort clinical services with similar functions,” says the AHS memo from Capital Management and South Zone Executive Leadership.
A promised statement from AHS never reached The Herald by deadline Wednesday.
The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is not impressed with the move.
“After years of battling the Government of Alberta to move workers out of the dangerous Melcor building, it’s extremely disturbing to see this memo from Alberta Health Services outlining its plan to relocate staff back into this unsafe building,” the union said in a statement to The Herald.
“The government said they were not planning to renew the lease when it expires in two years — so it’s shocking to see AHS telling staff about the plan to consolidate all community and public health programs under Melcor’s crumbling roof, over the next several months.
“This isn’t just a matter of slapping some paint on the problem — there are real issues like mould, flooding, falling ceiling tiles, broken elevators — the list goes on. AHS needs to look at other, safer options when relocating their staff,” said the statement.
The AUPE says it and other unions weren’t consulted “after years of advocating for the health and safety of our members and all Albertans who rely on the public health services they deliver.”
The AHS memo says the department is “in the early stages of planning and designing processes for these moves.”
It adds that all programs impacted by relocation will be “intimately involved in the design and construction of their space” and that Capital Management teams will be scheduling meetings with department leaders to review recommendations.
“We will then begin rearranging areas to make room for construction and begin design consultations with impacted teams.”
Last April, the AUPE raised concerns about the Melcor Centre, saying it isn’t safe for workers or visitors.
It said the building suffered three floods in Government Alberta offices in the first few months of 2022 and claimed there had been eight floods there since 2014.
It also said there were problems with mould, mice, black widow spiders and silverfish in the building and that AUPE members had been trapped in elevators.
The office tower and main floor were built in 1975 at a cost of $22 million by Poole Construction. A second retail level was added in 1988. in June last year, the government announced it was terminating its Melcor lease in 2025.

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