The community quite understandably wants to do everything possible to stop Alberta Health Services from decommissioning 15 long-term care beds at the Sundre Hospital and Care Centre.
A person couldn't be blamed for being confused, frustrated, saddened, angered ó perhaps a combination of all of the above ó by the plans to close the beds. Especially considering the fact that creating 2,000 new long-term care beds was among the fledgling NDP government's campaign promises made barely a year ago when it was elected following the growing resentment Albertans bore against decades of complacent, self-assured PC governance.
Hundreds of Sundre and area residents are and have been expressing the range of emotions outlined above, and two town meetings have been held at the legion over the past few weeks. The most recent, held on Wednesday, April 6, was to discuss possible ways to pressure officials to reverse their decision.
While it's good to get organized, work and then hope for the best, having a Plan B is probably just as, if not more, important.
Officials have been assertive in stating that there are no plans to reverse the decision to decommission the beds. Kerry Bales, chief zone officer, central zone for AHS, said as much during the March 21 meeting attended by so many people that the legion's 250-seat capacity was filled, leaving plenty more to stand in the back.
While there have been successful efforts to lobby and pressure the government to change its position on such decisions in the past, including regarding the Michener Centre in Red Deer, other similar efforts were unable to, such as the case in Vulcan County's Carmangay. The village lost its dedicated long-term care facility called the Little Bow Continuing Care Centre about four years ago, despite the community's effort to rally against the former government and the health super board it created.
As if the loss wasn't devastating enough for the community, promises made to find a new purpose for the facility have yet to materialize.
And similar promises are now being made about finding use for the space in Sundre ó not only at the hospital but the entire Foothills Lodge, which will be vacated upon the opening of the Mountain View Seniors' Housing campus of care complex.
But plans for the space that will become available should already have been in place long ago.
So perhaps efforts also need to be directed towards putting pressure on provincial and AHS officials to follow through on promises to consult with the community in developing realistic plans for the future, just in case they don't reconsider closing the beds.
