4/6 The timing is grim.
This summer, the #Edmonton region recorded an all-time monthly high for #DrugPoisoning deaths. The crisis is accelerating, yet the life-saving safety nets are being cut.
"The fact is, these harm reduction services save lives," #Gallaway asserts.
#UCPideology #abpoli #ableg
3/6 This isn't an isolated closure; it is part of a pattern.
Since its inception, #RecoveryAlberta has aggressively pivoted toward #underregulated #private services and #ForcedTreatment legislation.
#Gallaway warns this approach puts #Albertans at "unnecessary risk of avoidable #drug #poisoning."
2/6 It will be replaced by "recovery-oriented" #addiction services, though details remain scarce.
For #Gallaway of #FriendsOfMedicare, the trade-off is a dangerous gamble driven by ideology, not medical necessity.
"Today’s announcement is yet another blow to evidence-based addictions care."
#ableg
6/10 #FoM says this is part of a broader pattern of #UCP "control," not "choice."
#Gallaway cites limiting #vaccine access, restricting #MAiD, "conscience rights," and a "one size fits all" #addictions model that includes #ForcedTreatment while #de-funding #HarmReduction.
#AbPoli #AbLeg
5/10 #Gallaway: "Every #Albertan deserves to feel safe and free of #discrimination when accessing the health care that they need, and that care should be provided on the basis of the best #MedicalEvidence available, not #politics or #ideology."
#Healthcare #AbHealth #AbPoli #AbLeg #CharterRights
5/7 Instead of doubling down on #privatization, Friends of Medicare says the government should be launching a "public inquiry into the surgical contracts we have already signed.”
#Gallaway called the press conference "more political in nature than a serious plan for improving acute care."
#AbPoli
4/7 #Gallaway says the announcement is "cover for the government's real priority."
"It's pretty clear that today's announcement... was really just cover for their plan to spend even more of our #PublicHealth care dollars on private #surgical contracts."
#Privatization #AbPoli #ABLeg #AbHealth #UCP
1/7
🇨🇦 UCP ACUTE CARE ACTION PLAN IS "COVER FOR FURTHER PRIVATIZATION" 🇨🇦
#FriendsOfMedicare blasts #UCP "Acute Care Action Plan."
Alyssa Pretty writes: the group's executive director, Chris #Gallaway, says the plan is "a lot of words and a lot of rhetoric, but not much action."
#AbLeg #AbHealth
6/7 "But they continue to ignore the real issue that needs tackling in the health care system: the ongoing #staffing crisis."
#Gallaway states this shortage is "causing chaos" as Albertans struggle to get care, and today’s speech does nothing to address those concerns.
#StaffingCrisis
2/7
"What a disappointing #ThroneSpeech for #Albertans concerned about accessing the care they need when they need it,” said Chris #Gallaway, executive director.
"What we needed to hear today was a real plan from our government to finally take rebuilding our #PublicHealthcare system seriously."
8/9 "Albertans deserve better than empty promises and legislated queue jumping," #Gallaway concluded.
"We deserve a government that is serious about making sure that every Albertan has timely access to the quality care they need, regardless of whether they’re able to pay up front.”
5/9 "Albertans are already suffering," says #Gallaway.
The real problem is an "ongoing #staffing crisis."
"Instead all they have to offer is more... #privatization, and more... out-of-pocket health care costs for families who are already struggling with #affordability."
#abhealth #abpoli #UCPfail
2/9 "To think that permitting Albertans with unaddressed health needs and money to spare, to access potentially unnecessary diagnostic tests, will somehow reduce our wait times is completely ludicrous,” says FoM's Chris #Gallaway.
"These schemes never actually pan out as promised."
#ableg #abpoli
5/6 The current investigation is not a full #PublicInquiry. It lacks the power to compel witnesses to testify under oath and to demand necessary documents.
"An inquiry is the only way #Albertans can be assured we will get real answers on the ongoing allegations of corruption," #Gallaway concludes.
4/6 Hundreds of millions of our public health care dollars being spent on #PrivateSurgicalContracts, #Gallaway notes.
"Albertans deserve to know how our money is being spent, and that those decisions are being made in patients’ best interest, not those of #for-profit companies.” #Privatization
7/8
#Gallaway says the integrity of the public system is at stake.
"We need to ensure that #PatientCare is the priority, not #private #profits. Yet, Albertans continue to be met with more questions than answers when it comes to the lucrative contracts that have #privatized #surgical delivery."
