Why the NDP will win.

[slough shark]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

B.C.

I’ve read more stories about their system suffering with massive shortages and delays from multiple places, it’s no better there.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by teledogs

Most importantly I hope your son gets the attention he needs. Prayers sent.
This is always how I remember our ER departments to be especially in the larger cities. I can't imagine what it would be like to work in that kind of environment.

I would imagine it is pretty draining.

[linemanpete]

Do other provinces health ministers berate doctors on their driveway? Or unilaterally shred a pay agreement with docs? Refuse to bargain in good faith with our nurses? Morale goes a long way and the current government has killed any system morale.

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by Outbound

HA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! ! *gasp* AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

That's the funniest thing I've read in weeks. I have family working in the medical system of BC. It's closer to collapsing than Alberta's.

Originally Posted by slough shark

I’ve read more stories about their system suffering with massive shortages and delays from multiple places, it’s no better there.

Don't shoot the messenger, with the available statistics, British Columbia ranks higher than any other province in Canada.

[slough shark]

Some people who love the single provider system don’t want to hear it but the solution but a likely solution is keeping our system as is and allowing private to exist and provide services to those who are willing or able to pay. My reasoning is no government in Canada of any political stripe has been able to fix our system as it is regardless of how much money they throw at it so my conclusion is the system is the issue. The other thing is whenever I’ve needed some sort of service that the system allows to exist privately (x-ray as an example) the 2 options I’ve seen are wait for the free government provided one and you’ll get one in 6-8 months or call the private service provider and get in within days. My wife fairly recently herniated a disc and those were her options, I’m glad I was able to afford the private option so she doesn’t need to take prescription painkillers for another 6 months while she waits for an x-ray. I’m not saying we need to go to an American system (because I don’t) but there are plenty of other countries that have systems that work fine with a hybrid system (see virtually all European countries and advanced Asian ones for examples)

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

Don't shoot the messenger, with the available statistics, British Columbia ranks higher than any other province in Canada.

And who produces and releases those statistics? What criteria did they use to come up with them? No offense, but I don't put a lot of faith in most government sourced statistics.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

Reread

That pipeline would have built a few hospitals in the future. It was a gamble for sure, but it will go one day. If pedo Joe wound't have somehow got in, that line would be close to pumping bitumen


So I ask, where is the money supposed to come from for all this new infrastructure?

I believe there are a lot better places that $1,300,000,000 could have gone toward other than a gamble on the election of a foreign country. KXL not being built the past decade has not been due to issues on the Canadian side—it’s been presidential vetoes and state by state injunctions and lawsuits down south that has been holding it up—so it’s been factors way beyond the control of the Alberta Government dictating its success. I’m all for resource development but I’m not particularly interested in what is ultimately nothing more than corporate welfare.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

I believe there are a lot better places that $1,300,000,000 could have gone toward other than a gamble on the election of a foreign country. KXL not being built the past decade has not been due to issues on the Canadian side—it’s been presidential vetoes and state by state injunctions and lawsuits down south that has been holding it up—so it’s been factors way beyond the control of the Alberta Government dictating its success. I’m all for resource development but I’m not particularly interested in what is ultimately nothing more than corporate welfare.

That pipeline will have large econonic benefits to Alberta once it is completed. Far more than the 1 billion invested.

[Fish along]

Originally Posted by Armorman

The waiting rooms were full waaay before Kenney took the reins in this province. They were full in other provinces too. But ya, let's vote for the NDP so that your grandchildren and their children can continue waiting. Nothing will change or nothing good will come out this by voting for more socialism. Our entire system is unsustainable because it was never intended to operate with so many non contributing parasites and a political class bent on sabotaging our economic self determination.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Totally agree with you.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by linemanpete

Do other provinces health ministers berate doctors on their driveway? Or unilaterally shred a pay agreement with docs? Refuse to bargain in good faith with our nurses? Morale goes a long way and the current government has killed any system morale.

This right here is what has moved my vote from ucp to ndp.

[jstubbs]

Originally Posted by MountainTi

That pipeline will have large econonic benefits to Alberta once it is completed. Far more than the 1 billion invested.

Nobody is arguing it won’t. It’s whether or not it was a wise decision for the Alberta Government to invest that money. So far, I haven’t seen a single thing indicating yes—because the overarching value of the pipeline is allowing further expansion of the oil sands and reduced WTI-WCS spot price discount. The only thing that the Alberta Government did with this decision was subsidize the losses for TC Energy shareholders, because again as I said, KXL being built was not contingent on financial backing by the public sector, but by approval from the US Federal & various US state governments and courts—all of which wholly out of our control.

[HVA7mm]

Is there a nursing shortage in Alberta, probably but the majority of RN's aren't providing direct care. Out of the nearly 40K registrants in the college of registered nurses only about 49% are providing direct care with the rest in education (25%) administration (9%) and research (8%).

However, I truly believe that the biggest drain on nursing resources was directly caused by the introduction by the government of "part time" and "casual" positions 25+ years ago as a money saving measure. This has proven to have done the exact opposite and is costing wayyyyy more than if full-time nursing would have been left alone. If you think about it, when you have a certain number of hours needed to provide care in the province and have people working at .6 or .4 you would be paying out a lot more in pension/benefits simply due to the added number of employees. Not to mention the training requirements. I went through a salary disclosure list (over $136k/year) that AHS put out, and I was surprised how many nurses were making over $200k/year. This definitely isn't the norm by any stretch, but working overtime/call-outs certainly compounds over the year if you are classified as part time/casual.

I don't blame the nurses. Who wouldn't want to make more money for the same number of hours worked, and also have the flexibility of having more time off when you want it? I remember having nursing friends that were laid-off in the early/mid 90's and went to the US/Europe/Middle East to work, then returned home to work in a system with a shortage of employees. They took full-time positions, but were working a pile of hours and would constantly be denied vacation/time-off due workload. Many were getting married/having kids at that time, so they simply quit and came back as a part time/casual employee instead, which allowed them the time off and the flexibility to make up for monetary shortfalls by simply picking up extra shifts at an overtime rate instead. You don't need to be a rocket surgeon to figure out which option is better.

I can't say that I blame the union either, as it allows them to have a larger membership paying dues. Unions aren't called a business unit for nothing, they are also a business and increased revenue is important to them as well.

Politicians and executives are responsible for the current mess that Canadian healthcare is in, mostly through policy decisions. These decisions have really created a toxic "us vs them" environment that can't be changed by simply throwing more money/people at the situation, or by cutting funding either. Until there is a concerted effort to change the toxicity and polarization, nothing will ever change.

In case I get questioned about my numbers regarding nurses compensation, here's the link.

https://www.albertahealthservices.ca...Page13093.aspx

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

I believe there are a lot better places that $1,300,000,000 could have gone toward other than a gamble on the election of a foreign country. KXL not being built the past decade has not been due to issues on the Canadian side—it’s been presidential vetoes and state by state injunctions and lawsuits down south that has been holding it up—so it’s been factors way beyond the control of the Alberta Government dictating its success. I’m all for resource development but I’m not particularly interested in what is ultimately nothing more than corporate welfare.

So was Notley breaking the electricity contracts which ended up costing Alberta $1.8B a better deal?

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/co...-fiasco-mounts

[sourdough doug]

[QUOTE=jstubbs;4575080]The nursing shortage especially is terrifying. The amount of OT being paid to get nurses to work 16s and pick up extra shifts would make your guys' eyes water... is this really cheaper than just treating our healthcare workers properly, including not fighting them on their compensation during a pandemic as they're working their asses off for us?

A study might be done to see how many nurses are working "part time" and ask yourself - - WHY...... maybe $$$ .. ???

[elkhunter11]

A study might be done to see how many nurses are working "part time" and ask yourself - - WHY...... maybe $$$ .. ???

Could it be that someone signed a contract with them, that made it more profitable to work part time?

[Trochu]

It's high time AHS was significantly revamped. Some of the stuff I hear makes it almost a certainly that simply more money isn't going to fix the system.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by Trochu

It's high time AHS was significantly revamped. Some of the stuff I hear makes it almost a certainly that simply more money isn't going to fix the system.

But that is exactly what the NDP will do, throw more money at it.

[lmtada]

Originally Posted by Smoky buck

Do some research this is a Canada wide issue and federal has cut buck funding to healthcare over the years

Look outside Alberta it’s no better

Smoky you are correct. This is not UCP issue. My wife had stage 4 cancer in 2018 under the NDP government. Went to emergency a few times. Always a 12hr wait. Police escorting (25 year old), criminals with handcuffs in Emergency ward (bullet holes), had precedent. This is a Canada wide issue.

[JamesB]

Some of us remember when Notley spent a ton of money hiring new staff for AHS, and the wait times got longer for most procedures.
The problems we have are not a result of staffing or money, they are caused by inefficient systems that need to be completely revamped. Too many very well paid people sit in useless administrative positions. The ideological resistance to privatization and multi tiered options are also ensuring that resources are never as efficiently used as they could be.
If the system is going to get better people have to start looking at options from other countries and stop fixating on the US.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

But that is exactly what the NDP will do, throw more money at it.

And of course , we will pay for it, with higher taxe, because the money has to come from somewhere.

[schleprock]

My late sister was a nurse. She would not take a full two me position because she made way more money working part time and grabbing all of the overtime that she could. I imagine that this is still a common practice and is something that needs to be reformed.

[lmtada]

Originally Posted by jstubbs

Edmonton hasn’t had a new hospital built since the Grey Nuns opened in 1988. The population has more than doubled in that time. Since 1988, we’ve had 30 years of Conservative governments and four years of NDP. Guess which one announced plans to finally build a new SW hospital in Edmonton?

There is a lot of finger pointing going on here but looks like only OP is able to take off his partisan glasses to recognize that our Conservative provincial governments have been failing us substantially to provide the healthcare infrastructure we require and rightfully deserve as tax payers.

I bet that $1.3 billion Kenney spent on a never-to-be-built pipeline could have gone miles building healthcare infrastructure. enjoy the wait times fellas…

SHERWOOD PARK, FORT SASKATCHEWAN have new hospitals built last 12 years. Given the go under Klein, Stelmach governments.

[pikergolf]

Originally Posted by JamesB

Some of us remember when Notley spent a ton of money hiring new staff for AHS, and the wait times got longer for most procedures.
The problems we have are not a result of staffing or money, they are caused by inefficient systems that need to be completely revamped. Too many very well paid people sit in useless administrative positions. The ideological resistance to privatization and multi tiered options are also ensuring that resources are never as efficiently used as they could be.
If the system is going to get better people have to start looking at options from other countries and stop fixating on the US.

So many great options out there to emulate, but AHS is more worried about saving friends and family jobs. Until the house is swept clean nothing will happen. I worked for the Feds during Harpers sweep, our dept. of about 90 people was told to cut around a dozen cannot remember exactly. When the breakdown came it was tradesmen and a couple of helpers that lost their jobs. The middle management protected themselves real well. Our shop ended up with 5 tradesmen and 2 supervisors. How does that make sense. But in government lots is possible if you are in management. .

[mac1983]

Originally Posted by lmtada

SHERWOOD PARK, FORT SASKATCHEWAN have new hospitals built last 12 years. Given the go under Klein, Stelmach governments.

Grande Prairie as well cost about 800 million and the Ndp added a couple years and unknown amount of money to the job by their incompetence.

[bridger2010]

Originally Posted by Fisherdan

10+ hour wait time at the children’s hospital in Calgary right now.

Waiting room is full with an extra 20-30 kids lying on the hallway floors.

1.5 hours just to get admitted.

Good job driving our doctors and nurses into the ground and to different provinces Kenny. Good luck with more of your out of touch rhetoric and priorities Danielle.

Will try taking our son again tomorrow in the morning.

Start a Go Fund Me and stop using government to steal from citizens to pay for your stuff.

[HL_transplant]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

B.C.

Lol I live in BC easily the worst Healthcare out of any province I've lived in. And it's not even close.

[Fisherdan]

First of all, thank you to all the well wishers. This morning, he was doing a bit better, but has since gone downhill again. So my wife is back to emergency with him.

A few thoughts...

Yes, I see that healthcare across Canada (and the world to a large extent) is failing/under tremendous strain. So not just an Alberta or UCP problem.

It is almost impossible to buy Children's Tylenol in Canada right now... not helping the situation in children's hospitals across the country.

I agree that restrictive mandates have had the consequence of putting off the inevitable. During Covid, our household was relatively healthy. Once things opened up, it has been one virus/illness after another.

Some comparisons to BC have been made. The average age in BC is 42. Alberta is 37... not quite apples to oranges, but almost. That 5 year age gap is probably a major reason why BC has preemptively struck a deal compensating their doctors. Doctors are a hot commodity and BC simply cannot afford to lose them.

Someone commented that in Canada we produce more lawyers than doctors. Why are we not producing doctors? Is the academic bar set too high? I have been looking for a family doctor and have an appointment with one in January. He is originally from Nigeria, went to school and worked in the UK, and immigrated here. It seems like many (if not most) new doctors are immigrants. I don't have a problem with immigration, but what is going on here in this country? Why do we need to poach the brightest minds from elsewhere in the world?

As far as Alberta politics go... Kenney picked a fight with doctors and nurses at the worst possible time. Simply terrible pig-headed leadership. Now Smith says that AHS is solely at fault. She fired Hinshaw publicly, without even speaking to her first. I know that most of this forum has jumped on the Smith bandwagon, but I personally do not believe that she has the leadership qualities needed to attempt any kind of massive reform that will produce a quality outcome. Good leadership would first acknowledge that decades of government mismanagement (decades of Conservative and 4 years of NDP) have given us a system that is today failing. Instead she is doing what 98% of professional politicians do... blame someone else, make vague empty promises, and hope things blow over/fix themselves.

It's only the beginning of November, barely the beginning of cold and flu season, and things are already off the rails.

[HL_transplant]

I would like to know who are these people that live in BC and think our Healthcare is better?? There 0 family doctors where I live. Moved in May and was informed no doctors will be taking patients in 2022. If you think NDP will fix your problems then have at er. I lived in Sask and Alberta my entire life and it's easily the worst situation for Healthcare living in BC

[elkhunter11]

Look at which city is number 2 in Canada, and which is number 3. So we hold two of the top three positions in Canada, based on their criteria.

https://www.universitymagazine.ca/ci...n-canada-2020/

[amosfella]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

Fixed it for you.

I think that the words 'pandemic' and 'politician' are interchangable.