Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A memo by Alberta Health Services dated September 14, 2011, regarding bed pressures, addiction, and mental health, Edmonton zone, reads: “The Edmonton Zone is currently experiencing a critical demand for inpatient mental health beds in the region. Any possible patient discharges are deeply appreciated.”

Why is this government now throwing the mentally ill out on the street?

Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, Alberta Health Services is competent and capable of managing our health system. Alberta Health Services communicates, I’m sure, by e-mail, BlackBerry, and memos. I don’t think that it would be a surprise to any Albertan to know that on a day-to-day basis the managers in Alberta Health Services have to shuffle resources. I think that’s what people do in every part of their life every day. There is no reason to believe this suggestion that there’s anyone whose life is at risk as a result of the fact that Alberta Health Services is doing their job.

Mr. MacDonald: Mr. Speaker, if this government was competent and capable, these outstanding recommendations from the Auditor General’s report, which are three years old, would have been met by now.

Given that we have this memo that indicates that you are throwing mental health patients out on the street, is this this government’s idea of wait-time management for those who are mentally ill?

Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, there are so many ways that I need to answer this question. The first is that it’s an unfounded allegation. To draw conclusions from a two-line memo that’s been written by someone who is a competent manager in Alberta Health Services I think is suspect.

The second thing I’ll say is that with the report of the Auditor General what we see are substantial and solid recommendations that the government of Alberta has accepted and is implementing.

Now, I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, and I think Albertans know that sometimes, once a recommendation is made, it takes some time to implement. We are committed to responding to those reports. We did so again yesterday and will continue to.

Mr. MacDonald: Again, Mr. Speaker, in the Auditor General’s annual report there are at least eight outstanding recommendations on how to improve mental health and mental health program delivery in this province, yet we find this government is using a memo and discharging the mentally ill onto the street. Why is this government failing again to protect the mentally ill by forcing them out onto the street because of your incompetence and your inability to manage the health care system?

Ms Redford: Mr. Speaker, there is nothing in that memo to support the allegations that the hon. member has made. There is no doubt that mental health is an issue that’s important in public health. I’ll tell you that one of the things this government has done is invested in mental health beds in the past three years under the safe communities program, including 18 new beds in Medicine Hat. This government takes that issue seriously, and we’re acting on it.

Inspection of Long-term Care Facilities

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. A question to the Minister of Seniors, please. Why has this government failed to set uniform province-wide inspection systems for long-term care facilities six years after the office of the Auditor General demanded that it be done?

The Speaker: The hon. minister.

Mr. VanderBurg: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, our department does set the accommodation standards and the fees. We do inspections. Under the great leadership of the previous minister that was posted on the website so that we can all see it and enjoy it for our evening reading.

Mr. MacDonald: Given that last year Alberta Health Services spent over half a billion dollars on facility-based continuing care services, why again has this government failed to approve updated standards for facility-based continuing care? Your version of this is totally different from what the office of the Auditor General suggested to the media and the public yesterday.

Mr. VanderBurg: Again, Mr. Speaker, I’d really like to tell you that there’s a great care facilities review committee. There’s great work done by this ministry. Today I had an opportunity to look at the website. You know, if any of you from Edmonton are interested, there’s the Dianne and Irving Kipnes Centre for Veterans, the Edmonton Chinatown Care Centre, the Edmonton General Continuing Care Centre, Extendicare Eaux Claires, Extendicare Holyrood, Good Samaritan Society. It’s all public. You can read about it.

The Speaker: The hon. member.

Mr. MacDonald: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again to the same minister: if all of this is true, why are there so many discrepancies in the current inspection system for those facilities?

Mr. VanderBurg: Mr. Speaker, of course it’s all true. It’s all on the website. We’re transparent. We have a great process and a great group of administrators to make sure that these facilities are reviewed each and every year. If a complaint comes up, we’ll address it.

Alberta Hansard, November 23, 2011

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