March 12, 2020 – Following the Rural Healthcare Under Siege meeting held in Bonnyville March 11, Reeve Greg Sawchuk is encouraging residents to write letters to provincial politicians about their concerns with recent and proposed cuts to the Alberta healthcare system, as well as the general state of rural healthcare.
At the meeting, doctors from Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Lac La Biche and St. Paul covered a range of concerns including doctor shortages putting undue pressure on the current physicians through on-call shifts and emergency room rotations, doctor burnout, mental health concerns for health practitioners, and more. Already long wait times to see a doctor will get longer as physicians move out of rural practices to urban centres to escape some of those concerns.
“It goes beyond the proposed cuts,” said Reeve Greg Sawchuk. “I encourage residents to share their personal experiences and concerns with their elected officials. This latest hit to rural healthcare and the issues brought up by doctors at the meeting last night has created a focus on rural healthcare.”
If you would like to send letters of concern, here are the addresses you will need:
Premier Jason Kenney
premier@gov.ab.ca
307 Legislature Building
10800 - 97 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B6
Honourable Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health
health.minister@gov.ab.ca
423 Legislature Building
10800 - 97 Avenue NW
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 2B6
David Hanson, MLA Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul
Bonnyville.ColdLake.StPaul@assembly.ab.ca
Box 5160
#2, 4428 - 50 Avenue
Bonnyville, AB
Canada T9N 2G4
Laila Goodridge, MLA Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche
FortMcMurray.LacLaBiche@assembly.ab.ca
Suite 107, 10110 Fraser Avenue
Fort McMurray, AB
Canada T9H 5C2
David Shepherd, Official Opposition Critic for Health
Edmonton.CityCentre@assembly.ab.ca
10208 - 112 Street
Edmonton, AB
Canada T5K 1M4