Health Care in Crowsnest Pass, Deloitte Report

The release of the Deloitte report and comments by the Minister of Health a couple of weeks ago regarding the delivery of health care in rural Alberta caused quite a stir here in Crowsnest Pass as well as across the province. There were recommendations in the report to turn some rural hospitals into clinics. Effectively closing those hospitals. Looking through the Deloitte study on the Chinook Health Region (which the province has disbanded) it is seen that while there are some concerns regarding the delivery of health care here, there are no recommendations to change the status of our hospital.

The report projects a population increase to 12,000 people and points out some areas of concern. Future staffing seems to be the biggest problem, with some doctors reaching retirement. It also points out that there is an opportunity to increase surgical volumes. Recruitment of physicians was the responsibility of the now defunct health board. Where that responsibility now lies is unclear. It is very clear however that we (as a community and municipality) need to protect the future of our hospital. As such we may have a role to play in the recruitment of the physicians (and other staff) needed to properly staff our hospital.

An ad hoc committee was set up last year by concerned citizens to deal with the problems in the delivery of health services here in the Pass. Should that committee be looking into the recruitment problem? Are they the right vehicle to engage our current medical personnel in finding solutions? What should the municipality be doing? Is it time we thought about incentives to attract the needed doctors? The best start, I am sure, is to reactivate that adhoc committee.

Crowsnest Pass Relay for Life

One has to admire people's commitment to causes they feel passionate about. Last night the crusade to end cancer manifested itself , here, in the marathon walk called Relay for Life. Relay teams garnered monetary pledges for their commitment to walk in relays through out the night and what a night they had. Cold, rain, lightning, and even hail insured no team member had an "easy walk in the park". No matter what the night threw at them, though, they continued all night long to meet their fund raising goal. They and all the volunteers needed to facilitate the event deserve all of our thanks.

Province To Close Rural Hospitals?

It appears the provincial government is getting prepared to close hospitals in rural Alberta as the Calgary Herald reported yesterday. They are looking at turning them into long term care facilities and walk in clinics. Shawn Patience, mayor of Fort Macleod, is completely correct when he stated for the article, "If they're looking at closing more rural hospitals, that's not the way to provide proper health care in the province of Alberta". Fort Macleod lost their hospital in spite of the fact the town was home to then cabinet minister, Dave Coutts. Mayor Patience knows the negative effect a hospital closure has on our small communities.

One of our greatest assets here in Crowsnest Pass, as in other smaller towns, is our hospital. We can ill afford to lose it. Now, nothing in the article stated that our hospital was on the chopping block but I don't believe we can sit back and wait to see what the province's plans are before we act in the best interests of our community ensuring the continuing operation of our hospital as a hospital. Neither does our mayor. Right after reading the article yesterday afternoon, Dr. Irwin began his lobbying efforts on behalf of our hospital. Individual lobbying is a great start but I don't believe we can count on that alone. We have seen what happened in Dave Coutts' home town.

As this short sighted direction in health care affects all people in small town Alberta it is going to require a province wide effort to force the provincial government to reconsider what they are about to do in rural Alberta. Each and every town in this province is going to have to stand side by side in opposition to this regressive proposal. Each PC constituency association had better be exploring their options as they relate to getting their parties' elected officials on track with the needs of rural Alberta. Any action is going to have start quickly to insure the health and safety of rural Albertans.

Turtle and More

Council did come up with a land use bylaw regarding the area that could be affected by a potential second slide of Turtle mountain. The bylaw puts the area in direct control of council and allows homes to be rebuilt and repaired. The bylaw also allows for the building of garages, garden sheds and similar structures that do not add to the density of the area. While the bylaw allows residents of the area to make application for a new home to be built (according to zoning in place in November of 2007) it does not allow for subdivision. The bylaw that was finally passed was based on a collaborative effort of affected residents and council.

Pictured is the south peak of Turtle that the AEUB tells us will fall some day. AEUB has sophisticated monitoring equipment on the mountain and tell us they will be able to give us 4 weeks advance notice of a slide, unless such slide is triggered by an earthquake. Fortunately we are not prone to earth quakes here in Crowsnest Pass (another good reason to live in the Pass) so it seems unlikely a quake will trigger a second slide of this mountain.

It has been awhile since I have posted anything here so I will report belatedly on few happenings of the past couple of months. Council did finally pass a budget late in April, including the Crowsnest Centre's budget request, and set a mil rate of just below 8 with an eleven percent tax increase. While the centre's budget passed the majority of council is still pursuing the closure of the facility. As a result the people started a petition requesting a plebiscite on a bylaw that would ensure the centre be used for the provision of municipal services and an educational facility. The petition has acquired the signatures needed and administration is in the process of verifying signatures. The petition will likely be presented to council at our next regular meeting.

Council does not appear to be wholly supportive of the idea of the transfer of development credits but seems to support the idea of using money coming from the development of potentially obtainable land from ASRD to protect land that is significantly more important for wildlife habitat.

Mayor John Irwin, our CAO Gord Lundy, and I attended the Federation of Canadian Municipalities convention held in Quebec City this year. Much of the talk and plenary sessions this year revolved around funding for infrastructure, the infrastructure deficit of 123 billion dollars and who should best fund the cost of upgrading and repairs. We heard good speeches regarding this issue from Jack Layton and Stephane Dion. Unfortunately the Prime Minister did not attend this year's FCM, sending instead his minister of Transportation and Infrastructure to speak for his party. Jack Layton and Dion both did a good job of handling questions from the assembled municipal leaders but the minister responsible for infrastructure, Lawrence Cannon, refused to answer questions from the floor. Of course one of the benefits of attending these conventions is the opportunity to get some one on one time with people with influence as is pictured here. John putting our communities interests forward to the Honourable Ray Danyluk, Alberta's Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Finally those of you who watch blogs about municipal interests may recognize this hard working councillor from Grande Prairie discussing municipal problems with a colleague as he is waiting to hear Stephan Dion speak.

Transfer of Development Credits

In an earlier post I talked about our twin needs of allowing growth and protecting important wildlife habitat. Not an easy accomplishment particularly since one need contradicts the other. To this end I met with Guy Greenaway and Kim Good of the Miistakis Institute to talk about the transfer of development credits as a way of insuring private landowners do not have the priviledge of devolping their land taken away from them without replacing it somewhere else that development can be undertaken in less sensitive areas.

At my request our CAO has invited Guy and Kim to make a presentation to council on the transfer of development credits. After a number of tentative dates fell apart due to illness and other factors Guy let us know this past week that he would be able to attend tonight's (Tuesday May 13th) council committee of the whole meeting to make a presentation. I am sure all that are interested in development and or conservation in Crowsnest Pass would find tonight's presentation at council interesting and thought provoking. The meeting again is tonight, May 13 7:00PM, at council chambers.

The Centre of Debate

A few weeks back council passed a motion to approve this year's budget temporarily excluding the Crowsnest Centre's grant request excepting an allowance of $25,000. A far cry from the $105,000 grant needed to insure continued operation of the facility. In the ensuing debate I argued the motion was nothing more than a subversive attempt to shut the Crowsnest Centre down, to shut it down without having to make the motion to accomplish that feat in an upfront and honest manner.

At our last regular council meeting administration brought to council the outstanding request of the Centre and some repairs that should be done to the building. My motion to approve the grant request of $105,000 agreed to by the budget committee (all of council) on January 15th was defeated by a 4 to 3 vote. Councilors Ward, Cole, Macleod, and Salus voting against. In favour of the motion was myself, Councilor Mitchell, and Mayor Irwin. As council was informed that the centre was critically short of cash it was painfully obvious there was a plan to force the centre into bankruptcy. After the defeat of that motion I made another that council explore the feasibility of replacing the old part of the centre with a new building to be added to the newer part of the centre. The purpose of the motion was to insure some planning take place for the future provision of municipally important services from that site and further that there is no disruption in the provision of services from that facility. Council passed the motion 5 to 2 Councilor's Ward and Cole voting against. So council does have a vision for the future. All we need now is to handle the present in a fashion that brings us to that vision.

Let's make no mistakes. Shutting the facility down or forcing it into bankruptcy will not bring that collective vision to reality. Council will have another chance, when the milrate is set on Thursday, to do the responsible thing. I believe they will take that opportunity. I don't believe any councilor would vote to send our post secondary institution back to Lethbridge.

Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?

The first question is very easy to answer. The second quite a bit tougher but they could well be intricately joined. Our Heritage Initiative, an umbrella organization comprised of representatives from the Crowsnest Chamber of Commerce, Community Futures Crowsnest Pass, the Crowsnest Historical Society, Bellevue Underground Mine, the Frank Slide Interpretive Centre, the Municipality, Coleman Community Society, and the Bellecrest Association, has been working on initiatives for a decade now to create a future for the Pass by building on our past.

The organization, co-chaired by Fred Bradley and Shar Lazzarotto, has been successful in establishing a heritage route through the Pass complete with route signage. The logo above will identify the route and will also be visible on all highway signage directing traffic in Crowsnest Pass. The program to encourage tourists to"Discover Crowsnest Heritage" is no small accomplishment and will be the envy of many other towns in the province. The organization deserves a pat on the back and could sit back for a bit and revel in this accomplishment but knowing much more has to be done held a workshop Saturday in Historic Downtown Coleman (Parks Canada has designated it a National Heritage Site) to explore ways to capitalize on this project and to determine the steps needed to fulfill our desire in revitalizing Crowsnest Pass through the promotion of our heritage.

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day here and would have been a great day spent in the pursuit of the trout that make their home in the Crowsnest River but I am glad I resisted their call and spent it enjoying the excellent presentations and listening to the innovative ideas and suggestions articulated by participants and presenters alike. Aside from the workshop session the highlights had to be the presentations by Randal Macnair Mayor of Fernie, Ted Stilson of Lethbridge Business Redevelopment Zones, and Daryl Cariou Senior Heritage Planner of Calgary. They amazed everyone, I am sure, with what can be accomplished with vision, committment, and investment. We would do well to aspire to what they have achieved in their respective jurisdictions.

We will not get there by following past practices. We will not get there by repeating past mistakes created by our desire to climb out of recession by accepting any proposal that brought minimal investment dollars into our community. The investment community is looking at Crowsnest Pass. It is time we put in the bylaws, procedures, planning, and protocols to insure those investment dollars are used to rebuild our Pass in manner that showcases our uniqueness.

Main street in Crowsnest Pass's National Historic Site