Garth Rowswell,Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA, led the opening remarks at a well-attended public engagement meeting at Border Inn and Suites Friday regarding plans to refocus Alberta’s health system into four areas. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
The Alberta government can check Lloydminster off its list of completed in-person engagement sessions across the province, with plans to create a new health system.
The local meeting was held at Border Inn and Suites on Friday with government facilitator, Sarah Murrant, explaining what the government hopes to achieve with the tour.
“We are in the process of conducting more than 60 in-person engagement sessions across the province. This is session 39 in Lloydminster,” said Murrant.
“All the information from this, as well as from other streams of engagement, will all be collected and analyzed and presented to the decision-makers to help them form the way we’re going to refocus the health care system.”
The public engagement tour follows the province’s plan announced in November to create a unified health system focused on primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health and addiction.
The presentation in Lloydminster kicked off with greetings from Vermilion-Lloydminster-Wainwright MLA Garth Rowswell, with provincial health minister Adriana LaGrange in attendance.
The event included a short presentation from assistant deputy health minister, Matt Hebert, to bring the audience up to speed on what the health system changes are going to involve.
“The bulk of the conversation is about the government listening, providing feedback, solutions and ideas from health care professionals and Albertans to help them make decisions on how the system will be refocused,” explained Murrant.
She said many decisions are being made now.
“It’s ongoing, we can’t slow down to wait and we have to make sure we’re getting every detail just right, so some decisions are ongoing and others will continue on a regular basis in the future,” she said.
