Albertans want health charter, advocate: report

Albertans want a new provincial health act to include a charter and a health-care advocate, according to a report released Thursday after four months of consultations with people in the province.

The report has 15 recommendations that were developed after 1,300 Albertans in 23 communities across the province attended workshops this year and filled out surveys on the internet.

An eight-member advisory committee wrote the final report with Edmonton Conservative MLA Fred Horne, who released it in Calgary.

"This was a tremendous opportunity to listen to what people had to say about the state of health and health-care in Alberta," said Horne.

"The recommendations in this report, shaped by Albertans, lay out a framework for moving forward on new health legislation and improvements to the health system and most importantly deliver a clear message: Albertans want a health system that puts people first."

Albertans who took part in the processs also indicated they want the province to preserve access to publicly funded services and not to encourage queue jumping, Horne said.

Recommendations in the report include:

• Stipulating in the Alberta health act the province’s commitment to the principles of the Canada Health Act.
• Creating a health charter that acknowledges "that health and health-care are a partnership between individuals, families, communities, health providers and the government."
• Establishing a health advocate who has the power to help people get their health-care concerns addressed.
• Taking new approaches to engage the public on health policy matters.

Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky ordered the public consultations after the government endorsed a report released in January titled "A foundation for Alberta's health system."

Among that report's recommendations was that several provincial health-care laws — including the Hospitals Act, the Nursing Homes Act and the Health Insurance Premium Act — be consolidated into one piece of legislation.

Motivation questioned

But according to the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan research network based in Edmonton, the plan to combine the laws is just a "Trojan horse" for increased private health-care in Alberta.

The current pieces of legislation contain prohibitions against the operation of private hospitals and rules about the provision of private surgical services, the institute said in a report published in June.

"These acts represent important compromises reached after often-heated public and legislative debates, such as the Bill 11 debate over for-profit hospitals," the report said.

"The [January] report makes no reference at all to these provisions and provides no guarantees that they will not be lost when the acts are merged."

Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason said Thursday's report is full of abstract principles, but fails to specify what can be done about a shortage of doctors or long line-ups in hospital emergency rooms.

Zwozdesky said he will respond to the recommendations next month.