Improving our health care system consistently ranks as a top priority of Albertans. However, the cost of Alberta’s current health system is rising at an unsustainable rate, and despite this, waiting times to undergo important medical procedures continues to increase.
Albertans deserve better. We need a health care reform strategy that is based on results rather than ideology. We need a system that is centered around the needs of patients, rather than the whims of a large, centralized bureaucracy in Edmonton.
A Plan for Health Care Reform
Meaningful health care reform is extremely difficult at the best of times, but it is made infinitely more challenging by our current provincial government’s lack of a coherent plan.
I am of the view that a competent and responsive provincial government would articulate a clear plan for health care that voters understand. Such a government would first consult with provincial stakeholders including doctors, nurses, home care workers, patients and others in developing its plan. This has not been done.
After developing the plan, an effective government would communicate the specific health care goals they intend to achieve and why these goals are necessary. It would show how they intend to achieve these objectives and what timelines and milestones to expect along the way. The current government has also failed to do this.
An effective health care reform strategy would give Albertans a personal stake in health care reform. Just as Albertans were willing to pull together in support of eliminating our debt in the 90’s, I believe Albertans would be willing to do the same to save our public health care system today…but only if they are first consulted with, and the overall health reform strategy is explained clearly to everyone up front.
Principle-Based Health Care Reform
Among the greatest challenges facing needed health reforms today are the public fear tactics used by certain politicians and special interest groups who seem far more concerned with preserving the status quo than on fixing an obviously outdated, unsustainable and broken health care system.
I am of the view that as Albertans we need to ignore the voices of fear and open our minds to new and innovative health care solutions. We can reform our health care system into one that is accessible and patient-centered without compromising universal accessibility. Dozens of western European countries have successfully tackled health care reform without abandoning their commitment to a public system. With Albertan’s entrepreneurial spirit and ‘can do’ attitude, there is no reason we can’t do the same.
In order to achieve this result, any Alberta health care reform strategy should set principled-based guidelines around which an acceptable plan can be developed. As a starting point, I would include the following principles:
The system must be sustainable for ourselves and future generations over the short and long term;
The system must measurably improve the quality of our health care including shorter wait times for medical procedures, improved patient outcomes, and increased access to family doctors and specialists;
The system must allow each individual the maximum amount of choice relating to personal health decisions; and,
The system must ensure the best health care professionals and facilities remain available to every individual regardless of ability to pay.
It’s time to stop listening to the scare tactics of those who advocate for protecting the status quo and to start building a health care system that we can all be proud of.
Video
Stop Centrally Planned Health Care - March 17, 2010
