CALGARY — Soon, people living in Airdrie won’t need to travel to Calgary to get around-the-clock care.
Health Minister Sarah Hoffman says residents of the city north of Calgary will have 24-7 care at their own health centre starting early next year.
The centre is currently open from 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., and patients who need treatment outside of those hours have to travel to the Peter Lougheed Centre in northeast Calgary.
Hoffman says in the last year, 4,000 people from Airdrie had to go to Calgary to see a doctor after their urgent care centre closed for the day, so it was important to find a way to provide 24/7 care, even in this tough economy.
Michelle Bates, co-founder of the Airdrie Health Foundation, has been working to get this to happen.
Her five-year-old son Lane died in 2009 after becoming seriously ill during the night, and she says he could have been saved if he would have been able to get medical help in time.
“Decisions we made the night of Oct. 26th, 2009, were made largely due to the lack of 24-hour health services here in Airdrie and overcrowded hospitals in Calgary, and I hope no other family has to suffer the way we have," Bates said Wednesday.
"Calgary hospitals are simply too far away and are at or above capacity a lot of the times. Airdrie needs to be seen as its own city with its own unique needs.”
The Opposition Wildrose Party is pleased, but says Airdrie needs a new, upgraded emergency facility to meet the needs of residents.
But Hoffman says with provincial finances so bad due to continuing low oil prices, a renovated existing building is the only option now.
“It’s a tough time economically in our province. We all see the deficit but we want to make sure every dollar we have is being used soundly and we have about a three-per-cent increase in the health budget this year, and it's looking like that might go down in the future."
Airdrie Mayor Peter Brown is beyond grateful to the province for the round-the-clock service.
“I don’t know where the money came from and I’m not even going to ask because I can’t even imagine what you guys are dealing with up there for finances. I know how tough it is in Airdrie and I know there’s a lot of pressure from communities like Airdrie ... and you can only go so far.”
