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State of Local Health Care Crisis
On June 18, 2024, Hinton Town Council declared a Local Health Care Crisis in recognition of the limited availability of health care in town, resulting from numerous primary care physicians leaving the community and challenges in the continued operations and full-time coverage of the Hinton Medical Clinic.
This is not a decision made lightly; it reflects the dire situation faced by Hinton medical professionals and residents alike.
In response to this crisis, Council has approved supporting the Hinton Health Care Foundation (HCCF), with the Town providing the organization $500,000 per year over the next two years, or approximately $41,000 per month. This investment in our local health care is being provided to deficit fund the Hinton Medical Clinic. As part of the agreement, the HCCF will assume a governance role with the Hinton Medical Clinic moving forward.
Health care falls under the Provincial Government’s authority; however, we have seen the need locally. While we are working with the Province to find solutions, Council feels it is in the best interest of the community to do what we can, as a municipality, to strengthen our local healthcare operations.
This work will continue. The Town has been heavily advocating to the Province, including meeting directly with West Yellowhead MLA Martin Long and Alberta Health Minister Adriana LeGrange. Hinton is not alone in our shortage of doctors and medical health professionals. It’s a challenge seen across the province, and we hope that our municipal partners will join us in finding sustainable solutions to this crisis.
We are also asking for your help in this endeavour. Anyone who the Local Health Care Crisis has impacted is asked to write a letter, to be submitted via email at info@hinton.ca or in person at Town Hall, located at 131 Civic Centre Road in Hinton.
Strength in Members: Hinton Health Care
The Town of Hinton garnered overwhelming support from Alberta municipalities for two key advocacy items at the recent Alberta Municipalities Convention, September 25-27.
Alberta Municipalities (ABmunis) conducts an annual resolutions process that enables member municipalities to bring forward common issues and solutions and seek member approval to give direction to ABmunis’ Board of Directors to advocate to the federal and provincial governments on members’ behalf.
This process includes a resolutions session at ABmunis’ annual Convention where Regular Members vote on resolutions that have been submitted by members. When a resolution is adopted by members, ABmunis takes action to develop and implement an advocacy strategy for each resolution.
This September, the Town of Hinton presented resolutions on Health Care and Wildfire Prevention. Both passed with overwhelming support. We truly believe in Alberta Municipalities’ slogan, “Strength in Members,” and are empowered by the support of our municipal counterparts in trying to address these two key topics.
Resolution: Attraction and Retention Strategy for Rural Health Care Professionals
The Town of Hinton is working hard to address our Local Health Care Crisis, but the challenges we are facing are not unique to Hinton. Municipalities across Alberta have been faced by health care shortages, often resulting in a lack of services, including Emergency Room closures in many communities.
Following the passing of the Town of Hinton’s Resolution, Alberta Municipalities will advocate for the Government of Alberta to develop a Rural Health Care Professionals Attraction and Retention Strategy that focuses on increasing the total number of health care professionals in rural Alberta.
Following advocacy efforts led by the Town of Hinton, the Government of Alberta has announced a new initiative aimed at improving health care in rural and remote communities across the province.
On Thursday, October 3, the Government of Alberta announced the Rural Health Action Plan at the Hinton Healthcare Centre. As some of the first steps being taken under the Action Plan, Alberta’s government is introducing a $16 million Rural and Remote Family Medicine Resident Physician Bursary Pilot Program, as well as an $800,000 Medical First Responder (MFR) Grant program and a $600,000 Emergency Medical Responder (EMR) Education Grant program.
“There is an urgent need for customized supports in rural and remote communities across Alberta. This action plan will serve as a roadmap to build and maintain access to high-quality health care in these areas of the province,” said Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health for Alberta.
“Today’s announcement brings us hope,” said Nicholas Nissen, Mayor of Hinton. “This initiative is an exciting step in improving access to health care in rural and remote municipalities like ours, and we thank the provincial government for their commitment to taking swift and ongoing action to support and stabilize primary health care in our community.”
On June 18, 2024, Hinton Town Council declared a Local Health Care Crisis, citing local primary care services reaching a “critical breaking point”. This problem is not unique to Hinton. Many communities in rural and remote Alberta are facing the same challenges.
Health care is outside the focus of municipal government, but it is our job to ensure a healthy and safe community. The Town of Hinton stepped in to do whatever we could at the municipal level to address the issue, and we advocated for action from our provincial government.
“This new initiative and funding commitment by the Alberta Government is extremely welcome news and will help to solve some of the unique challenges for rural Albertans by encouraging health professions to practice in rural parts of the province, like our town. We are elated by this announcement, and I have faith that this step will be part of a sustainable solution to our crisis,” said Mayor Nissen.
As we move forward through these difficult times, Hinton will continue to advocate for improved access to health care and work diligently to attract new medical professionals to our town. Health care is an essential service for all Albertans, and we will continue do our part to ensure Hinton residents have access to reliable, consistent health care professionals at all times.
For more information on the Rural Health Action Plan, visit https://www.alberta.ca/news.