Health Sciences Association of Alberta and Friends of Medicare are criticizing the Government of Alberta for signing contracts with private partners to provide for-profit EMS inter-facility transfer services.
On Thursday, the provincial government announced it had signed two contracts to provide scheduled, low-acuity inter-facility transfer services, with additional work underway to expand to other areas of Alberta. Inter-facility transfers are described as patient transports between hospitals or between hospitals and other settings that provide specialty care or services.
“There are approximately 174,000 of these non-urgent transfers annually, with about 24,000 in Edmonton and about 20,000 in Calgary identified as being appropriate for contract service partners, as this volume is non-urgent low acuity transfers,” the provincial government stated in a media release.
“Working with Guardian Ambulance Ltd. in Calgary and Associated Ambulance and Services (Whitecourt) Ltd. in Edmonton will add resources to the EMS system that will help AHS free up ambulances and paramedics to focus on emergency medical responses in Alberta’s two largest cities.”
Chris Gallaway, Friends of Medicare executive director, called this move “another ideological decision” from the UCP government.
“The government’s decision today is purely political, in spite of clear evidence that the privatization of emergency services is not a solution to our problems. These services are currently being delivered by the public system and there’s no reason they shouldn’t continue to be,” said Gallaway.
“Instead of creating a desperately needed health care workforce plan and making delivery decisions based on that, the government continues their failing privatization agenda that is actively worsening the dire short-staffing crisis facing our public health care.”
Mike Parker, president of HSAA, said a few months ago the government “corrected its failed approach to for-profit care after a complete failure to move community laboratory services to DynaLIFE.”
“Today, they are setting Albertans up to face the same problems with EMS,” said Parker.
“The tragic lesson Albertans learned from the failure of DynaLIFE labs was that the promises of cost savings and improved efficiencies from corporate health care are nothing but a sham to undermine the public health-care system.
“For-profit health care reduces the quality and availability of health care as corners are cut in the name of profit, leaving Albertans to pay the price with their health.”
HSAA cited reports from the New Brunswick Auditor General and the National Union of Public and General Employees that found issues with the quality of care and fiscal management when Medavie took control of EMS in New Brunswick.
“Not only is this government failing to learn from its own mistakes with for-profit health care in labs, but it is also choosing not to learn from others’ mistakes with the exact company they are providing an IFT contract to,” said Parker. (Guardian Ambulance Ltd. is a division of Medavie Health Services West.)
“I am calling on this government to put the health of Albertans ahead of profits and follow through on their commitments to address the health-care staffing crisis by making all of EMS publicly funded and publicly delivered.”