BARRHEAD - Lack of specialists in the area and the subsequent need to travel to receive care in addition to long wait times for appointments resulting in patients using the emergency room were highlighted among the top health care challenges facing Barrhead.
Those were some of the highlights from the Dec. 5 Community Conversation hosted by Alberta Health Services (AHS) and the Tamarack Health Advisory Council at the Barrhead Senior Citizens Drop-in Centre. It was, in fact, the third such meeting hosted by AHS that week.
“Our goal with Community Conversations is to get out to as many communities as we can across all of the zones and … have a conversation with you about your concerns and your ideas, and to look for opportunities where we can work better together,” said Nicole Merrifield, director of community engagement and external relations for the North Zone of AHS.
Besides a handful of AHS representatives, the meeting was attended by the Tamarack Health Advisory Council chair, Barrhead town and county councillors,
WJS Alberta, the Pembina Hills School Division, Blue Heron Support Services and the Barrhead Attraction and Retention Committee that was set up to recruit physicians.
During the meeting, the participants worked on group exercises where they identified the biggest health-related challenges facing Barrhead and new ways to address those challenges.
A What We Heard summary document was then e-mailed to participants Dec. 12.
The document noted that the top health care challenges facing Barrhead — travel concerns and residents going to the emergency room for normal concerns — had been expressed at other meetings within the North Zone.
In terms of solutions, it was suggested that the community improve access to Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to support physicians in the area.
Notably, Barrhead actually is part of the Aspen Primary Care Network, which also operates in Athabasca, Westlock and Swan Hills.
On the subject of transportation challenges, it was noted that PJ Elite Services Ltd. is now operating in Barrhead. It is a family-owned business that provides wheel-chair accessible transportation, among other services.
The summary document states that all the notes and partnership ideas generated at the Barrhead Community Conversation will be combined with input from other similar forums and shared with the North Zone leadership team for review.
An action list will be compiled and AHS will then reach out to community groups to share the information collected “to build partnerships and support community-based wellness.”
