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2010 Feb 19 (Fri)
Private Health Care Services
Kevin questions the move towards private health care services in Alberta.
113 Alberta Hansard February 16, 2010
Dr. Taft: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Today this government announced it was holding the Royal Alex orthopaedic centre to an increase of a mere 16 extra knee and hip procedures. In comparison, it’s giving a for-profit corporation subsidies for an extra 180, more than 10 times as much money for corporate medicine as for a public hospital. To the Premier: why is this government letting the state-of-the-art public orthopaedic facility at the Royal Alex sit underutilized while it pours huge subsidies into corporate medicine?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, we’re the only jurisdiction to commit to a five-year increased funding to a publicly funded health care system, and we remain committed to that goal. We also remain committed to the best-performing publicly funded health care systemin Canada.
Dr. Taft: Well, I hope everybody in Alberta is noticing he’s not saying publicly delivered because it’s going to be delivered through private, for-profit corporations. In fact, this government is providing 750 extra cataract surgeries at for-profit private providers and only 175 at the public Royal Alex centre. To the Premier: why is this government pouring more money into private, for-profit cataract surgery instead of into public services?
Mr. Stelmach: Mr. Speaker, at the end of the day it’s access and it’s quality, and that is our goal here, to increase access and the quality of care in this province. Once again, we’re going to show leadership with a five-year funding commitment to a publicly funded health care system.
Dr. Taft: Mr. Speaker, the Premier should know that every single assessment I’ve seen of Calgary versus Edmonton on cataract surgeries shows that Edmonton delivers better value, higher quality, and lower cost. My question is to the Premier. How is this government going to responsibly hold to account the funding it’s providing to for-profit, corporate health care?
Mr. Zwozdesky: Mr. Speaker, this is just an example of very selective reading on the part of the hon. member asking the question because what he forgot to tell people is that there are 175 cataracts scheduled for the Royal Alex, there are 60 colonoscopies scheduled for the Royal Alex, and there are a number of hip replacements and knee replacements and robotic urologies all scheduled at the Royal Alex. This numbers well over 200. Regardless of where the services are provided, be they in a public setting or a private setting,
they are publicly funded by this government.
Date: Fri Feb 19 20:00:35 MST 2010
changed by: Rebecca
IP: 68.149.137.22
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