EDMONTON -- Alberta Health Services (AHS) has been targeted by acts of vandalism earlier this week that it calls “disturbing.”
Red paint sprayed on the sidewalk immediately in front of the main to the entrance of Plaza 124 building on 124 Street and 102 Avenue doors spelled out “AHS Nazis.”
AHS said in a statement to CTV News Edmonton that the graffiti was “disturbing.”
“The graffiti was reported to the building owners, who took care of its removal and we’re involving Edmonton Police Service,” AHS said.
“This type of language and vandalism of any kind, is completely unacceptable and after a year of hard work from all of our AHS staff to fight the pandemic, it’s demoralizing to see this kind of action taken.”
AHS added that their protective services are working with building security to make sure staff feel safe and supported following this event.
The graffiti had been cleaned up by Friday afternoon.
AHS VEHICLES ‘PELTED’ WITH EGGS IN LA CRETE, ALTA.
Additionally, in the northwestern community of La Crete four vehicles being used by AHS were pelted with eggs Thursday morning.
La Crete is about 670 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
In a statement to CTV News Edmonton, AHS said staff are currently in La Crete to help setup the launch of Wave 3 of Connect Care, just like they have been at other health-care sites across northwestern Alberta.
“(The egg pelting) appears to be due to misinformation circulating in the community as to why these staff are in La Crete,” AHS said.
Mackenzie County asked residents in the area through a public notice to show kindness to the extra AHS staff working in the region to help implement the new Connect Care system.
“We ask that all residents show kindness and respect to these individuals as they work toward improving healthcare services for our communities.”
According to AHS, Connect Care is a digital system that is ushering in a new way of using and sharing health information to improve patient care by implementing a common clinical information system to house all medical records, lab results, prescriptions, and care history.
Connect Care is rolling out in phases across the province. The program first began in 2019 and has since been launched in the Edmonton Zone.
UCP MLA Dan Williams posted on Facebook Thursday saying he was “disappointed” to hear about the vandalism in La Crete.
“It is particularly disturbing that these were AHS staff vehicles who are here to provide a service in upgrading our access to rural healthcare,” Williams said.
“I know La Crete to be a hospitable and welcoming place, and I would expect that the community of La Crete would extend that same hospitality to visitors with courtesy and warmth, no matter the purpose and no matter who they work for.”
