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Minister blames bureaucrats for emergency room crisis

EDMONTON — Alberta’s struggle to fix a crisis in emergency room waits took an in-house turn Thursday when the No. 2 politician in the Health Department blamed the bureaucrats.

EDMONTON — Alberta’s struggle to fix a crisis in emergency room waits took an in-house turn Thursday when the No. 2 politician in the Health Department blamed the bureaucrats.

“We’re not the people running the darn thing. That’s AHS (Alberta Health Services). They need to be held accountable by us in government, by us in the legislature, by all Albertans,” Raj Sherman, the parliamentary assistant to Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky, told reporters.

“They’ve got the biggest (budgetary) pay raise in history to deliver health care. They’ve been given the best staff in the nation and the hardest working staff in the nation.

“The leadership in AHS needs to inspire the frontline staff.”

Sherman, who is also an emergency room physician, made the comments after an email he wrote to government and hospital colleagues was leaked to the media.

In the email, Sherman said he offered to quit his post weeks ago in frustration over the decisions made by his government and by Alberta Health Services, which is the service delivery arm of Alberta Health.

He singled out Premier Ed Stelmach for not following through on a 2008 promise to take action on emergency overcrowding.

“The premier made a promise to the ER doctors in writing and has broken his promise not only to the ER doctors but also to the seniors, the 1.8 million Albertans who present (themselves) for emergency care and their two million family members, and to all frontline health-care professionals,” he wrote in the email.

“My trust in (Stelmach) and his cabinet is severely tarnished.”

Sherman met behind closed doors with Stelmach for more than two hours Wednesday and said Thursday he will stay on as parliamentary assistant.

He also softened his comments on Stelmach.

“To be honest, the premier and the caucus have been listening. My frustration is probably more with the delivery side,” he told reporters.

Stelmach’s political opponents, however, used the email to hammer away at the premier .

“The government caucus is deeply divided over health care,” Opposition Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann told the house.

“One of its own members has now publicly stated the premier broke the written promise he made to doctors and to the people of Alberta.”

Stelmach said commitments are indeed being carried out to bring more beds and staff online along with measures to reduce wait times.

“I have confidence in my caucus, I have confidence in my minister and confidence in my parliamentary assistant to make the best decisions,” Stelmach told the house.

“We are family on this side of the house and will continue to be that way,” he said as colleagues pounded their hands on desks in appreciation.

A spokesman for AHS declined comment on Sherman’s concerns, but said a senior AHS official will speak on Friday to the larger issues he raised.

The waiting times have dominated the political agenda and the daily question period in the legislature.

When the sitting began earlier this fall, the government caucus voted against an opposition motion to discuss the health problems in an emergency debate. That changed Thursday when government members, including Zwozdesky, joined with their opponents to vote to hold an emergency debate.

“That was then, this is now,” said Zwozdesky, who said the debate allows him to “clarify some of the misconceptions that people may have.”

The issue of wait times has been a long-running issue in Alberta, but came to the forefront a month ago, when a letter to the government from Dr. Paul Parks was leaked to the media.

In the missive, Parks — the head of emergency care for the Alberta Medical Association — said the emergency rooms faced “potential catastrophic collapse” due to long waits and bed blockages.

The letter opened a floodgate of horror stories from doctors and others: patients waiting 20 hours or more for care; a heart patient dying awaiting treatment; a woman having her cervix examined in a public area; frustrated patients calling 911 while sitting in emergency care; paramedics forced to sit for hours with patients in wards waiting for them to be admitted.

Zwozdesky has announced more beds are being opened to relieve the bottleneck in acute care beds. He has already announced new wait-time targets for emergency rooms.

He chided the opposition for focusing on the premier’s promise to emergency room doctors.

“Dealing in the past is not going to solve today’s problems. Let’s deal with today,” Zwozdesky said in an angry exchange with Guy Boutilier of the Wildrose Alliance.

“What (Sherman) wrote was correct!” Boutilier shouted back. “Will you indicate in this house to the people of Alberta what he wrote was correct? And I will wait here until hell freezes over for an answer — and then I’ll fight you on the ice!”

“Ooooooooooooh,” taunted members of the government, mimicking the comments of a crowd revving up when two battlers square off.

Zwozdesky stood up.

“It’s so unfortunate when a person who has been elected in this assembly is so desperate they have to jump so low in the gutter to try and make a point,” he replied as his colleagues pounded their desks again.