The motion to support the union was brought forward by Ald. Elroy Deimert who told council Alberta Hospital serves all of northern Alberta.

“I think it’s worth a letter to the ministers to express our concerns because this a major health issue in our region.”

But Alberta Health Services decided in January the centre would instead house approximately 150 geriatric mental-health patients being transferred from Alberta Hospital Edmonton.

With that decision, the old funding model was tossed.

On Tuesday, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees released an April letter from Alberta’s health superboard — obtained through a freedom-of-information request — asking the government to pay the entire $51.4 million capital cost up front.

Alberta to pay $51M for Villa Caritas: union (CBC News)

The 150-bed facility — now under construction beside the Misericordia Hospital in west Edmonton — was to be a partnership with Covenant Health, which was raising most of the $43 million cost.

But documents obtained by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees show Alberta Health Services is trying cover the entire cost, which has ballooned to $51 million.

Villa Caritas upgrading costs (Global News Edmonton)

Trying to fit hospital programs into a building designed for long-term care will never achieve the standard and level of care that exists at AHE, no matter how much is spent on the Villa. Suffice it to say, the geriatric program will not be vastly improved under the Villa roof. AHE is a gem and needs to be redeveloped on its current site; Villa Caritas should be used for the purpose it was promised, designed and built.

AHS is making bed shortage worse (Smith)

Dumelie and Stewart state that Villa Caritas will provide a “42-per-cent increase” in beds for the treatment of geriatric psychiatry patients, but later state that 30 of the 150 beds will not be used for psychiatric care.

If this statement is true, it means that we will spend $43 million to build Villa Caritas, another $5 million to repurpose it, and untold millions to move all the patients, staff, offices, records and equipment, all for a net increase of 14 geriatric psychiatry beds, and a loss of 120 long-term-care beds. I doubt that any taxpayer would see this as a wise expenditure of public funds.

AHS is making bed shortage worse (Woollard)

The complaints about Alberta Hospital are questionable, the plans to renovate the hospital were approved years ago, and the setting is spacious and beautiful. I am sorely disappointed by Alberta Health Services, the government of Alberta, and the health minister for not supporting proper care for our seniors.

An additional 600 long-term-care beds were promised in the last election. Instead, there are now at least 150 fewer. We need a good system of long-term care, and not more for-profit care facilities.

The town hall was part of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees’ ongoing campaign to secure funding for the redevelopment of AHE. Albertans have also sent 500 letters to MLAs demanding redevelopment since March, and more than 300 attended a rally next to the hospital grounds in late April.

“After a full year of campaigning for redevelopment of Alberta Hospital Edmonton, many people still have a passion for the issue and continue to lobby for the improvement of mental health services,” said AUPE Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bill Dechant, who attended the event.

“This is the kind of public support that is needed if we want to secure the future of Alberta Hospital,” he said.

Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky was invited to attend the town hall by McClure United Church, which hosted the event as part of their speakers’ series. Zwozdesky declined the invitation.

Speaking at the event, AUPE President Guy Smith praised the efforts of every Albertan who contributed to the campaign for redevelopment, telling the audience that “if it wasn’t for people like you and everyone else who stood up and demanded that the AHE stay open, the hospital might not be here today.”

Other speakers at the town hall included Diana Gibson of the Parkland Institute, Noel Somerville of Public Interest Alberta’s Seniors Task Force, and Friends of Medicare Executive Director David Eggen.

Gibson pointed out that Alberta would have to add 1,300 mental health care beds just to meet the per capita average in other western countries. Somerville decried the plan to displace 150 long-term care beds at Villa Caritas in West Edmonton by closing the geriatric psychiatry unit at Alberta Hospital.

“Villa Caritas was intended to replace long-term care at the aging Edmonton General Hospital and there are many disappointed families around the city who donated a significant amount of money to see that happen,” said Somerville.

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For more information:

Bill Dechant, Exec.-Secretary Treasurer, AUPE – 780-930-3302 or 780-232-3870 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE – 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

Click here for a gallery of images from the meeting.

“Through the freedom of information (FOI) process, we have tried diligently to obtain the background information and rationale for Stephen Duckett’s decision to cancel AHE’s redevelopment and received almost nothing. It’s time for some answers,” said AUPE President Guy Smith.

“There are two possible outcomes from an inquiry: either AHS is being truthful and Duckett decided to close the hospital more or less on a whim, or AHS is covering up some discussions that would be politically damaging to reveal,” Smith added.

AUPE contracted researcher Winston Gereluk to investigate Alberta Health Services’ 2009 decision to cancel the redevelopment of Alberta Hospital Edmonton. In February, Gereluk filed an FOI request for “communications by or to Alberta Health Services or its predecessor bodies relating to redevelopment of the Alberta Hospital Edmonton site…for the time period of Jan. 1, 2008 to Jan. 31, 2008.”

AHS claimed no documents matched the request. Gereluk wrote to the Privacy Commissioner’s office to request a review. In his letter, Gereluk observed that the “logical implication” of AHS’s response was that “Dr. Duckett and the Department of Health and Wellness proceeded with this momentous decision without the assistance of any studies, meeting minutes, records, request for information, or even copied e-mails.”

Commissioner Frank Work acted on Gereluk’s request, notifying AHS CEO Stephen Duckett on Mar. 19 that his office would investigate the matter.

On May 4, an investigation guided by the Commissioner’s staff led to the disclosure of a single e-mail with the 2006 AHE redevelopment plan attached. The e-mail, dated Dec. 21, 2009, was sent by Brent Skinner, AHS Executive Director of Capital Operations and Government integration, to Duckett and AHS Chief Financial Officer, Chris Mazurkewich.

“If Stephen Duckett decided to close Alberta Hospital without a single study, or even consulting the 2006 redevelopment plan as the e-mail we obtained from AHS suggests, I think that kind of management should worry everyone in Alberta,” Smith said.

Smith will be speaking about the FOI request and other AHE issues at a town hall meeting on the future of Alberta Hospital Edmonton tonight. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and will take place at McClure United Church (13708 – 74 Street).

Copies of the correspondence between Gereluk, Alberta Health Services, and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner can be downloaded from:
http://www.aupe.org/documents/8G97T/

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For more information:

Guy Smith, President, AUPE – 780-930-3301 or 780-265-2294 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE – 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

The meeting begins at 7p.m., at McClure United Church (13708 – 74 Street) in northeast Edmonton. Speakers include AUPE President Guy Smith, Noel Somerville of Public Interest Alberta’s Seniors Task Force, Diana Gibson of the Parkland Institute, and David Eggen, Executive Director of the Friends of Medicare.

“There is still a great deal of uncertainty about Alberta Health Services’ plans for AHE. They’ve backed off of closing it immediately, but they’ve made no commitment to even do the basic, short-term repairs the hospital needs,” said Smith.

“We’re taking this uncertainty as an opportunity to keep educating people about the issue and put pressure on the Health Minister, Gene Zwozdesky. Our worry is that without continued pressure, Alberta Health Services will keep neglecting the hospital until it feels that it’s politically safe to try and close it again,” Smith added.

This spring AUPE sent over 2,000 lobby packages to MLAs and municipal politicians across Alberta, including a DVD and research report on the need for redevelopment of Alberta Hospital Edmonton, and a rally and barbeque held near the hospital on April 30 attracted over 200 supporters.

In May, AUPE was awarded with the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Ron Lajeunesse Award for the Save Alberta Hospital campaign. The award recognizes vision and leadership in addressing gaps in the mental health field.

Tomorrow’s town hall meeting was initiated after a request from McClure United’s Outreach Committee.

“It’s encouraging to see Edmonton’s communities are still dedicated to learning about the need for acute mental health care resources and fighting for Alberta Hospital’s future,” said Smith.

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For more information:
Guy Smith, President, AUPE – 780-930-3301 or 780-265-2294 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE – 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)
AUPE Offices can be reached by calling toll free – 1-800-232-7284.

Come and hear why we need the government to halt the closing of geriatric psychiatry beds at Alberta Hospital Edmonton and make redevelopment of the hospital a top priority. Open microphone to follow speakers’ presentations.
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2010-06-10

Click here for an event poster.

In a ceremony at Edmonton City Hall this morning, CMHA Board member Brenda Wentzell presented AUPE President Guy Smith with the group’s Ron Lajeunesse Award for an individual or organization that has demonstrated vision and leadership to improve service gaps in the mental health field.

Wentzell told people attending the ceremony how AUPE’s Save Alberta Hospital campaign of town hall meetings, TV advertisements, Web-based information and effective letter writing “grabbed the headlines” and “encouraged the decision-makers to take another look.”

“Less than six months after the original announcement, the provincial government announced that plans to close beds at Alberta Hospital Edmonton had been rescinded,” she said.

AUPE, she said, “has demonstrated outstanding leadership and vision and, through advocacy efforts with the Save Alberta Hospital task force, has helped preserve a necessary and valuable resource for mental health in Alberta and has brought the issues of mental health and mental illness to the spotlight.”

Smith thanked Wentzell and the CMHA for the “great honour” of the award, vowing to continue the fight to see the Alberta Hospital site in northeast Edmonton fully redeveloped.

“We’re still working very hard on the redevelopment of Alberta Hospital,” he said. “Without redevelopment, the future of the facility remains at risk.”

Smith was accompanied to the ceremony by many AUPE members from the AHE bargaining unit, including Belinda Ernst, John Armstrong, Vaughan Patrick, Rod Auramenko and Chantel Kotyk.