Bonnyville health board continues advocacy

Bonnyville Council heard from a local group looking to spearhead health advocacy in the community. 

The Bonnyville Health Centre Community Board, chaired by Audrey Campbell, recently began its work again.

“We’ve been kind of stagnant as a board for about five to 10 years, we’ve got a new board and some vibrant, passionate members on our board,” said Campbell. “We’ve decided we need to educate our community about who we are and what we do.”

Bonnyville Covenant Health Centre is an acute care facility and continuing care centre that provides a full range of health services. 

The hospital building is owned by Alberta Health Services, while it’s managed by Covenant Health. All capital funding comes from Alberta Health Services, most of the operational funding comes from Covenant. 

There are seven board members, they are always looking for more members to join.

“We advocate for our centre, we advocate for Covenant Health, and the health needs of our community,” she said.

Campbell says the loss of any health services could be the difference between life and death. 

“As a rural health care provider, Bonnyville Community Hospital faces unique challenges in supporting the greater northeastern Alberta population,” she said. “The hospital and the community need greater support to ensure access to comprehensive care.”

She says the long-term care facility can accommodate 30 residents. There are currently 33 acute care beds. 

“Bonnyville’s emergency room faces high demand relative to its capacity, leading to longer wait times as staff work tirelessly to manage patient flow,” said Campbell.

“(This is) due to lack of staff availability at the Bonnyville health centre and neighbouring sites as well as a lack of funding to support specialized medical professionals.”

She says patients are facing longer waits for critical care.

“During peak seasons such as flu or local events, demand on emergency services can spike, which exacerbates wait times as health care providers struggle to manage increased patient volumes,” said Campbell. 

She says addressing the root causes of emergency room congestion requires community-wide efforts. These efforts can include initiatives promoting preventative care and non-urgent treatment options.

“Stakeholders, including governments, health-care providers, and the community must collaborate on long-term solutions such as infrastructure investments, staffing initiatives and public education.”

She says these initiatives can help improve wait times and patient outcomes. 

Campbell hopes to get dialogue going between the hospital, the community, and the government to create action. She wants the municipality to advocate for enhanced funding for the facility to maintain and enhance the existing programs.

An example of something within the municipality’s control would include providing funding for a handy bus to get people to and from destinations. 

She says the parking lot is something they want to do something about.

“And of course, there’s that favourite of all municipal discussions, the parking lot. I’m sure you get a lot of feedback from your citizens about the parking lot at the hospital. We all want to do something about that,” said Campbell.

Campbell says they also need a CT scanner. The plan is for the Bonnyville Health Foundation to try to raise funds to get the device. In the new operating room design, there is room for a new scanner, according to Campbell.

Coun. Brian McEvoy echoes the critical need for a CT scanner in the community.

“The CT scanner is really interesting to me, that is something that is desperately needed in the community. It benefits us in so many ways, I look at it as a great way of recruiting physicians because they want to be able to get their patients diagnosed in their community and that will go a long way to it,” he said.

He says the cost of the scanner will be high, but he will continue lobbying people to think about contributing to it.

Bonnyville Mayor Elisa Brosseau says this committee will help steer the advocacy in the right direction.

“It’s really nice to see this committee revived. We have a really strong health foundation, but we need the advocacy group and that is where your committee is going to come in greatly,” she said.

“Thank you for the points you gave us, I think if we’re all talking on the same points and going in the same direction, hopefully, we can get things moving for our hospitals.” 

The intention of the presentation to council was to share information about the hospital and community health with council. 

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