Alberta Healthcare

I have ranted in a better thought-out blog before, but I need to vent on health care! 

Throughout most of my life, I have had the fortune or misfortune of dealing with the healthcare system. Some of it is due to family and friends being involved in it. Once in a while, I have had to rely on it, and it is easy to notice over the last few decades that things are getting worse and worse. I've already vented on it, but I just have to get more off my chest about our current healthcare system.

No matter what party is in power, they should be willing to repair the healthcare system; this should not be a political issue. I realize that different people will want to fix it in other ways. Still, no matter what party they should want to put the money in (like a lot of cash! and not wasteful spending but actual targeted spending), put the time in, put the effort in, and make Alberta healthy and happy once more. It can't be a Band-Aid fix anymore. We keep doing that with everything, doing minor repairs and hoping it will keep moving. Clearly, this is not working, and we need to start from ground zero. First things first, before people even need to go and use any of the healthcare system, we should be trying to keep them away from it. We should be pushing for a healthier society. There should be no issue with a sin tax on liquor, fast food, or smokes. I enjoy all these things, but the fact is that a sin tax is supposed to deter people from doing these things that are bad for themselves, and that money should be going into healthcare because that's where people will go from the harmful effects. On top of that, let's give tax breaks for healthy things. Let's help families be healthy and active. Get kids in sports, and get nutritious food into people. To start all this, though, we spend a year looking into what works and needs fixing. This means putting money into research, not just on healthcare, but society in general, and what can improve healthcare. 

I lean hard in prevention. If we don't need the healthcare system, we are doing well. We get there by taking better care of ourselves. Something that would help is better coverage through work. I don't think anyone can force employers to offer better coverage, but they should! 24 years ago, my healthcare plan was excellent!! Now, everything has jumped so much in price that it really isn't. $500 for services like acupuncture or physio is nothing. When something costs $90 per session $500 isn't much. 5 appts with physio. Depending on the injury, it might do it, or you need more, and it starts coming out of the pocket. For a lot of people $100 a week is no small amount. In reality, if a doctor or hospital tells you you need physio, it should be covered under AHS. No, not if you tweak an ankle and a couple of weeks of physio will fix it, but if you see an actual doc, and it is a long-term fix. It should be covered. Massage will never be covered; many people use it just to relax, but in today's stress-filled world, more should be covered. Vision care, I have heard so many people say they have little coverage. Why? Should we not want people to be healthy? I get it, it comes out of the company's bottom line; however, time and time again, it has been proven that happy, healthy workers are better workers! Also, workers value that job better if they feel looked after. I am not getting too into the politics, but to me, it is common sense. At the end of the day, spending more on healthcare makes the whole company money. I get that no one can control that, but it would be smart!

The whole healthcare system needs a revamp instead of simply putting Band-Aids on top of everything; we need to start dealing with the actual issues. Again, I am talking prevention. Mental health, for example, we are happy to give people pills that will numb them or make them happy, fake happy, or do whatever we want to do, but it's simply masking things. When it comes to mental health, people should have access to whatever programs they need and be able to see counsellors or whoever to get to the root of the problem. It will be painful, it will be time-consuming, but that is what we should be doing for mental health rather than just numbing society with drugs. With that, we need access not just during office hours. It is tough for a lot of working people to get away between 9 to 5 when most psychologists are open, we need to have better hours for working people and we also need much better coverage whether it comes from work coverage group plans, or whether the government just steps up and actually adds it to Alberta healthcare services and it's covered by the government. It's sad but true that many people can't afford $150 an hour. Maybe you have some coverage, but it only gets you two or three sessions. The truth is, the first two sessions aren't going to do anything; that's just when the doctors are learning about you. With this, not everyone has mental health issues. Sometimes, if your kid is acting up, they are just brats. We need to get that back. Just a thought, but we are way overusing mental health as a go-to for everything. Not everyone is fucked up. Saying that even just having someone to talk to would help many people. I realize those two statements clash, but I want to say not really. No, not everyone has a serious mental health issue, but even those without can benefit from talking with someone. Give everyone the chance to be heard, but also stop saying everyone is sick with something. Mental health is SO tied to physical health, and if we can keep people mentally healthy, all of society is better. Less addiction, less domestic issues, less self-harm. People feeling better about themselves and taking care of themselves are no-brainers. 

What happened to walk-in clinics? Not too many years ago, one could head to the clinic and get in. Yes, you had to go early or possibly wait a few hours, BUT you got in, and minor issues got dealt with. All over, I hear how busy and, honestly, useless ERs have become. Well, that's what happens when you overload something. If we had walk-in clinics back, it would take some of the pressure off the ERs, which would help a lot! Anyone sitting in an ER looks around and honestly thinks, "Why is that person here?" Be honest; you have done it, and I have. The ER should be for emergencies. Car accidents, trauma, broken bones, stitches. Immediate problems that need attention. However, with these clinics closed, people who may not require emergency care are flooding the ER. I can't blame them. Where else are they supposed to go? Where do you go if you can't get into your general practitioner for weeks? Maybe you tell yourself you're not taking up the doctor's time for a cold. After a few weeks, it doesn't get better, and you call for an appointment, but are told it will be 3 weeks to get in. Well, chances are you are going to head to the ER. So we get overcrowded ERs where you might wait many hours to see someone. Also, we don't have enough hospitals!! I see various numbers, but it looks like 50,000 people immigrated to Alberta in 2024. On top of that, another 50,000 babies were born. So 100,000 new people?! No, it isn't a huge number, but they all need healthcare. Hopefully, babies don't require an ER, but with 100,000 new lives, that will eat up a lot of services. That's the equivalent of a new small city; a small city needs a hospital, an ER, healthcare.... This is what I mean, society in general needs to be studied so we can do the proper things to fix the healthcare system. We want growth, but can we keep growing without adequate infrastructure? I recently checked out a walk-in clinic; they still exist! First, they are also overly crowded, which tells me we need more, and they don't have amazing hours. Many are not open on Sunday. To me, they should be open all weekend. Again, many people can't afford to take time off during the week, or their employers simply won't let them. If they aren't open on Sundays, we will again push people into ERs.

I have heard and seen so many people say they don't want private health care, and in general, I don't think we should have that. Should people have access to "extras"? I 100% believe that. Call it two-tier if you want. First, I have worked all my life, I didn't have children, I pay a ton of taxes that help fund public healthcare, but if I want to spend some of my hard-earned money on healthcare, why can't I? Let me be clear, I don't want it to take away anything from public services. The system needs to be worked out. If someone has a private practice, maybe they need to put in a certain amount of public hours as well. Or perhaps they must have X number of years of public before private. Maybe a certain % of profit must be returned to the public system. I am certain that with public input and some actual planning, this can work. Other nations are trying it, and it is working. Just need people to pull their fingers out of their ears and quit screaming no! The simple fact is that it also clears up space in public healthcare. People who scream never!! Don't seem to understand that properly managing a system like this helps everyone!

It's not going to be popular, but I am still 100% for mandatory rehab. If at some point an emergency crew has to come save you, you are going to rehab. I can't imagine if I had a heart attack or something and couldn't get help because someone was ODing. I'll be honest, I would be pissed. Yes, these people deserve just as much time and care as anyone, BUT when you bring it on yourself, there should be some consequences. I know most people don't get clean unless they want to, but maybe if you let someone dry out and have time to think about life, they may decide to become clean. If only 10% of people this works on, it's still a victory. Let me be very clear: this is NOT a violation of human rights, FFS. Literally trying to help someone have a better life is not a violation. In fact, I will go as far as to say make it law, and if someone misses time from work or something, they A) get some coverage for income lost and B) the job is guaranteed upon return. Ya, I get it, some people won't have lost income, so that doesn't need to be paid out, but I am trying to cover excuses as to why people shouldn't do this!!

Did you know EMTs have to stay with anyone they bring to the ER until the patient is admitted to the ER? So think of how long some people are tying up EMTs. How long have you sat in the waiting area until you were let in? Admittedly, if you come in an ambulance, you are likely getting in pretty quick, but if not, those EMTs are stuck in a hospital. As more calls come in, they could be helping save people, but no, they are sitting, waiting for a nurse. That's insane. That needs to be fixed, yesterday. If nothing else, the people in ambulances should be given to nurses' care, for the benefit of all!

This is a total rant here, as I don't actually know how ERs work. I have never understood why quick and easy things aren't done quickly and easily. A guy needs stitches, why are they in and out in 20 minutes? Now, there might be a reason, as I said, I am not sure. Would that not clear the ER up quicker? People who require tests, X-rays, or anything, get them back to a bed? I feel there is a better way to triage, but again, I am no medical professional, so there could be a reason. Still, to me, this could be done more efficiently. 

Here we are, my thoughts on what we should do. Either way, maybe all my thoughts are wrong, but I would start by looking at what needs to be done. There can be no more band-aid fixes. Money needs to be spent, but it needs to be done correctly. We in Alberta SHOULD have some of the best healthcare in the world. We have the resources; we should be able to attract the talent. If we need more hospitals and more equipment, from MRI machines to updating old equipment in any healthcare facility, it should be done! I can't speak on people who are inpatients, but I am sure there is a lot that can be done better there as well. It all starts with a good look at society and the healthcare system. Finding the real issues or the real way to fix the problems. 

That's just some takes from me. I am not in the medical field, and there are probably reasons for how things are done. That does not mean things can't be looked at. That doesn't mean there aren't better ways to do things. It feels like everything is still done the same way it was in the  80s, and the world has changed so much since then. I guess that is why the health care system and society in general need to be looked at, to find out where the best changes can be made. To me, prevention is the best place to start and go from there. It shouldn't be political; every party SHOULD want to fix the health care system and make it run better. These, of course, are all just rants, things I would like to see that don't mean they are the best way or will work, but I am asking for anything to be done to try and fix it. I think almost every Albertan could get behind that.