HOSPITAL WAIT TIMES
This letter is in reference to the recent article Bed Capacity to Blame for Wait Times.
Shortage of hospital beds also contributes to longer wait times for hip and knee surgeries. One solution is to build more hospital beds, but there is another solution that is far more cost-effective and could immediately open up beds.
According to the AHS Q1 2017-18 Performance Report, 11.2 per cent (42 beds) at the Red Deer Regional Hospital are occupied by persons who do not need hospital care. Most of these beds are being occupied by seniors waiting placement in a publicly funded nursing home or designated assisted living. So why are they waiting in a high-cost hospital bed? One obvious answer is a shortage of publicly funded nursing home and designated assisted living facility beds. A not so obvious answer is a current Alberta Health Service and government policy that rations and restricts access to public funding and forces seniors who cannot safely reside in their own homes, who cannot afford to pay for their own care in a private setting, to wait on average 30 + days in a hospital bed.
At a conservative estimate of $2,000 per day for a hospital bed, and a high estimate of $150 per day in a community setting, it would make far more sense to close 21 of the 42 beds and reallocate the $42,000 per day saved to provide 280 seniors with access to self-managed home care funding, through a voucher system so that they can choose where they want to live and how they want to receive services, and use the other 21 beds for elective surgery. So why isn’t Alberta Health Services and the Minister taking action right now? That is a question, each of us should be asking, whether we are a senior, have aging parents, or we ourselves need surgery or access to emergency services.
Gayle A. Langford, Red Deer
Photo radar Cash Cow
Cash cow – “One regarded or exploited as a reliable source of money or income.” Do you remember when the City of Red Deer first introduced the photo radar program as a safety measure and publicly promised they would not turn the program into a “cash cow”? It’s refreshing to know that Alberta Transportation Minister, Brian Mason, recently announced the review of each and every municipality’s use of photo radar because it has become apparent that the program is not being used as intended, “photo radar” was originally intended by the province to be used in “high risk” and high collision areas only. So when you see Red Deer’s highly prized, relied upon (and now included in the city’s budget) source of income, being deployed behind bushes in school zones where you seldom see any children at play you have to ask why. Why are you hiding? Why are you even there in the first place? As that location does not meet the Provincial mandate for photo-radar placement. You are there because of larger fines in school zones and you hide so drivers don’t see you for the repeat “business” to the tune of many millions of dollars a year. It’s not for the safety of our children or other drivers, or collision reduction, you are there expressly for the income it produces. The same can be said for many of the random spots where you hide. The excessive ticketing has finally caught the attention of the Provincial Minister of Transportation and perhaps now the city of Red Deer will keep their original word and confine the deployment of their highly prized and relied upon source of income to the areas it was intended for: high risk and high collision areas.
Evan Greely, Red Deer