Albertans believe health care is in crisis: Survey

An emergency room in Edmonton can be seen in this undated file photo. (File)

A survey of Canadians’ health care concerns reveals nearly three-quarters of Canadians think health care in their province is in a state of crisis, and the majority think governments aren't doing enough to fix workforce shortages.

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The poll was commissioned by the Canadian Health Coalition ahead of the annual meeting of the 13 provincial and territorial leaders in Halifax this week.

"Voters have a message for their premiers when they meet in Halifax for the Council of the Federation,” said Canadian Health Coalition chairperson Jason MacLean. “Canadians want provinces and territories to work with the federal government to improve public health care for everyone."

About eight in 10 Albertans said they support stronger cooperation between the provinces and the federal government to develop and implement a plan to recruit and retain more health care workers, and 79 per cent said they want the province to work with Ottawa on a national pharmacare program.

While survey respondents from across Canada backed collaboration on health care, premiers have shown reluctance to get behind some federal initiatives.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent last week, the premiers urged the federal government to "refrain from unilateral actions in areas of provincial and territorial jurisdiction, particularly in health care, education, and housing."

"In areas of shared responsibility, timely outreach and engagement will ensure that our respective programs, funding, and policies complement one another and are effective in each jurisdiction across Canada," reads the letter signed by the council federation chair, Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.

Premier Danielle Smith has said Alberta will opt out of both the federal dental program and pharmacare plan, asking instead that the province be given the funds directly to disperse through provincial programs.

Almost half of Albertans said they would be less likely to vote for the premier if she rejected the federal plan to cover the cost of contraceptives and diabetes medication.

Chris Galloway, executive director of Friends of Medicare, said the survey results should indicate to the premier she should put politics aside and focus on strengthening Alberta’s public health system.

"This government's aggressive privatization agenda is only making this bad situation worse, by emboldening for-profit operators to siphon essential human resources out of our public health care system," Gallaway said in a statement.

"Working conditions are care conditions, and health care workers are exhausted and burnt out after being forced to work short for years on end. It’s completely unsustainable. This government needs to finally start listening to health care workers and patients and implement a workforce plan to retain the health care workers we have, while recruiting and training those we need going forward."

More than 70 per cent of Albertans reported the wait time to see a medical professional was a major concern. A third said they have avoided going to the emergency room because of stories and concerns about long wait times.

The wait time in the Sturgeon Community Hospital in St. Albert was around three hours on July 16. Emergency departments in Cold Lake and Elk Point were closed because of staffing issues.