Meeting to be scheduled between AHS and town

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Westwind Weekly

Following the Sept. 24 visit to Magrath’s council meeting, Alberta Health Services is looking to schedule a meeting to meet the new council and discuss the issues presented previously.

AHS recently proposed to move the home care health offices to Raymond. The result has turned into a perception of lost of services throughout the Magrath area, which representatives Colin Zieber and Sean Shilton hope to combat once a meeting has been scheduled.

“It’s about dollars and cents. We spend more on health care in Alberta right now than we used to spend running the whole province in 2008,” said Mayor Russ Barnett of the $17 Million industry.

“It shouldn’t impact the care at all because we used to have our office in Raymond. Then one day they decided to move it to Magrath, now they want to utilize that long-term care space they freed up in Raymond . . . I can’t see the quality of care changing.”

According to an email sent to the town by Zieber, who is an executive director for senior’s health, AHS has looked into the town’s situation and plans to bring some “positive ideas to discuss,” at the meeting.

“We will engage with the Magrath physicians to ensure the planning reflects their needs to collaborate with community teams in Magrath,” Zieber said via email. “It was beneficial to hear the council speak to the concerning perceptions that’re being generated regarding the Raymond Health Centre re-development and its impact on community health services located in Magrath.”

The item was differed to committee meeting, where a date for the meeting between AHS and town residents and council will be decided at a later date. For more information on this issue, please contact the town office at 403-758-3212.