Clearwater County seeking investigation into
AHS Central Medical Affairs

By Diane Spoor
Staff Reporter

During the regular meeting of the interim council of Clearwater County on Tuesday, March 11, councillor Genny Mehlhaff made a motion that Clearwater County request the Government of Alberta to conduct an independent investigation into AHS Central Medical Affairs and how they are doing privileging in rural Alberta hospitals.
Councillor Neil Ratcliffe started the conversation on this topic after it was brought up at a recent meeting he attended.

“Our community raised a million dollars plus to get one of the best surgical suites in the province. Our local doctors’ group is investing millions into a new private medical building. And our community spends thousands every year to attract medical practitioners. And then we have thousands of people going out west to blow off steam on long weekends. But our own surgeons cannot get privileges to use this new operating theatre or perform emergency surgery for our residents and visitors. I find this ongoing thing to be absurd. And we need to raise this issue somehow towards a resolution,” Ratcliffe said.

Councillor Mehlaff agreed and expanded on that point. “We have two more physicians denied privileges here. I believe, and many others do, that it is due to the proximity to Red Deer. The same person can get privileging to do the same surgeries in Drumheller but not here. We had a surgeon who was ready to go; was making one request to do a type of plastic surgery and then denied all privileges. We need to be able to attract physicians into this community and if they are continually denied privileges we are never going to get them here. We have lost now a handful of them just in the last several months because they cannot get privileging. We need the Government of Alberta to do an independent investigation into how AHS is doing the privileging. And it is Central Medical Affairs that does the privileging for here,” Mehlhaff expressed her frustration at the situation. “I don’t know what else to do. This is the last-ditch effort I can think of. We have stood up at the mic and complained about this. I have complained about it here, we’ve done articles in the paper, we’ve written letters, we’ve requested to meet with her (Minister LaGrange). I don’t know what else to do. The discrepancies are appalling, and it is a detriment to particularly our community.”

Reeve Michelle Swanson agreed. “We are at the end of the rope.”

Swanson suggested to council that the Town of Rocky Mountain House be asked to support this letter asking for the investigation.

Clearwater County council agreed unanimously with both writing the letter to ask for an investigation and asking the town to collaborate with that letter.