The people of Athabasca got their chance to have some input on two hot-button issues facing the province, with a visit from two high-ranking officials from the government last Tuesday.
Minister of Education Thomas Lukaszuk and Parliamentary Assistant of Health and Wellness Naresh Bhardwaj joined Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson for a full day tour of Athabasca, an event hailed as an opportunity to hear what locals had to say about the government’s efforts in the two portfolios.
“It’s really good to block off that time and focus on meeting with people who don’t normally have the ability to access cabinet ministers,” Johnson said.
Their day began bright and early at the Athabasca Healthcare Centre, which saw the trio of MLAs, with their staff in tow, tour the facility and pick the brains of residents and staff.
Both Lukaszuk and Bhardwaj took to informal talks with staff before sitting down for a more formal discussion with three doctors and members of the local hospital auxiliary association.
Staffing was the biggest issue cited in the community’s troubles to keep professionals in the area.
Dr. Andres Esterhuizen, who came from South Africa three years ago, said that although he enjoys the area with its high quality of life, he struggles with high case loads leaving less time for his family than he had originally expected.
Already working out of a local general practitioners office, he also serves at the emergency room, which has patients facing three to four week waiting times.
“It’s an insane amount of stress,” he said.
Dr. Lecia Buys, another doctor who traveled from South Africa to take root in Athabasca, said the area could use at least three more doctors to keep up with the increased demand on ER services, and that a walk-in clinic would be an invaluable asset to tackle that issue.
“We have the space and the facilities, we just need the funding,” she said, adding that she knows of surgeons that are willing to travel from the urban centres to do part time work here.
Although no promises were made for more funding, Bhardwaj said that the ministry is looking at three pilot projects for family care clinics in the province, which could serve as the direction health services may go.
Lukaszuk, offering up an inter-ministerial vision, said he was looking at reintroducing nurses into Alberta’s schools.
“It makes sense for schools, (and) then I want them to stay in school after hours to be a resource for communities,” he said.
Both ideas were welcomed by the doctors and volunteers involved, but they still questioned the ability to bring and keep professionals in the area.
The third doctor present, Dr. Leon Berger, also brought up the issue of training new doctors locally. With a packed schedule of patients, doctors that are nearing retirement, as he is, are unable to work with newly graduated medical school students.
Lukaszuk responded with an idea of offering packages to older doctors that would see them paid specifically to train incoming doctors, which was given a thumbs up by Berger.
After wrapping up their meeting at the healthcare centre, the three MLAs headed to Heritage Grill for a quick coffee with residents interested in having their say.
From there they tackled education, with a visit to Landing Trail Intermediate School.
Lukaszuk spoke with approximately 200 students, a follow-up to a letter sent to all students in the province three weeks ago. He also gave them a rundown on the government process of making and passing laws.
LTIS Vice-Principal Joe MacIsaac said the minister engaged the kids well with the topics he presented.
“They appreciated it a lot,” he said.
After meeting with students, the minister turned his attention to the staff of the school, which MacIsaac said was a good opportunity to have their concerns aired.
Similar to the earlier conversation at the hospital, the teachers and administrators brought up the issues of class sizes, hoping that if more money is to be put into education it will be directed towards addressing that concern.
“The class size initiative was the biggest issue there, most teachers said that the best thing for students to learn is small ratio between students and teachers,” MacIsaac said.
He added that it is always good to have an opportunity to talk directly to ministers and have them respond immediately, and hopes that their concerns are taken back to the government and acted upon.
And for those grade 12 students coming out of diploma exams, Lukaszuk said to expect an upcoming announcement over potential changes to the policy aimed at giving students accurate marks, but painting a larger picture of how they did in class,
After taking on youth education, the group headed to Athabasca University for an interactive tour and meeting with president Dr. Frits Pannekoek.
From that meeting, Lukaszuk brought forth the idea of offering post-secondary credits to high school students, an effort to challenge students already excelling in their schooling.
He said that idea might be some time away, as the province would have to figure out who would pay for such programs, but it was an example of the synergies of thinking beyond his own ministry that was aided by the provincial tour.
The group wrapped up their tour with a visit to the residents and staff at Pleasant Valley Lodge and Extendicare Athabasca.
Continuing their provincial tour, they headed to a conference in Fort McMurray on Thursday.
