Health Care

Alberta's Progressive Conservative government cannot be trusted to protect Alberta’s public health care system.

Alberta's NDP Opposition believes we can improve care and keep costs down without privatization.

Shortage of health professionals:

Alberta is short about 1,500 nurses, and that number is expected to rise to 6,000 by 2016. Hiring freezes undermine our ability to train and recruit the health professionals it needs to serve a growing province.

Long-term care and wait times:

Ed Stelmach’s broke his election promise to fund 600 new long-term care beds, which means seniors are being placed in acute care beds while they wait for long-term care. This causes long wait-times in hospital emergency

Brand-name drug costs:

Increases in the cost of brand name drugs is a major reason for rising health care costs. The NDP Opposition would control prescription drug costs by establishing an Alberta Pharmaceutical Savings Agency. The agency would co-ordinate bulk buying of brand name drugs and develop strategies to reduce overall usage of pharmaceuticals.

Access to hospitals:

The PC government has failed to maintain hospitals in smaller centres. In larger centres some hospitals don't have the capacity to deal with the demands they face.

The NDP Opposition recognizes that hospital construction and renovation is a necessity that should continue at an even pace through good and bad fiscal times.