Thread by @FriendsMedicare

Yesterday, AHS released an RFP for expanded orthopedic procedures in chartered surgical facilities. Privatization of our health care has become par for the course from the AB government, but let’s break this down again anyways🧵1/21
alberta.ca/release.cfm?xI…

As per the Alberta Surgical Initiative, the gov't plans to reduce wait times by contracting out all sorts of surgical services to private facilities. It's modeled after the Saskatchewan Surgical Initiative which the gov't has repeatedly praised, but which ultimately failed! 2/21

The SK gov’t spent $176M on private surgical facilities in 2009-2014, +$60.5M on operating costs. While wait times initially lowered, since gov't funding slowed, wait times have steadily climbed. By 2018, some of SK’s waits were again worse than AB’s. 3/21
globalnews.ca/news/4151204/1…

The decision to contract out AB's surgeries follows recommendations from EY’s AHS review. The private accounting firm was paid $2M to conduct the review & were tasked by the government with focusing on economics, rather than best health outcomes for Albertans. 4/21

Unsurprisingly, the private accounting firm went on to recommend privatization across our entire health care system, including our surgeries. They estimate the Alberta Wait-Times Initiative will cost the public $669M. 5/21
friendsofmedicare.org/ahs_review

But contracting out means less accountability to Albertans, because the public doesn't see what AHS pays for services from private suppliers & has no input on how services are provided. Plus it costs more to factor in profits of private companies. 6/21
parklandinstitute.ca/fact_checking_…

The gov't plans to move “lower risk” surgeries to chartered surgical facilities, leaving more complex surgeries to large urban centers, enabling private surgical facilities to incur the highest possible profit, at the public's expense. 7/21

Notably, AB’s most privatized area of our surgical system, ophthalmology, is also the most profitable AND the area that performs worse compared to national wait time benchmarks. 8/21

In fact, current contracting decisions are basically replicas of risky & costly experiments with privatization that AB has seen rehashed time & again by subsequent governments. Take the Health Resource Centre for example... 9/21

In 2004, the HRC was awarded a $20M contract to do 2500 hip & knee surgeries (1/3 of all of Calgary's). The health authority said AB was paying 10% more for surgeries than if they were done in the public system, but the contract meant they were locked into the deal. 10/21

When the HRC failed to be profitable, contractors stopped work for financial reasons and the centre declared bankruptcy in 2010. The government had to bail them out to the tune of millions of dollars so that 900+ surgical patients weren't abandoned! 11/21
pnhp.org/news/canadian-…

In 2014, former AHS president Stephen Duckett linked AB’s high health care costs to privatization. He found HRC's costs were MUCH more costly than publicly-funded procedures: +$486 for a hip arthroplasty & +$1814(!) for a foot & ankle procedure. 12/21
longwoods.com/content/23897/…

Proponents of private health care, including our provincial government, insist that contracting out (lab services, surgeries, seniors care, etc.) is benign because services are still paid for with public money. 13/21

But evidence from across Canada & worldwide shows private surgeries are costlier than public ones; they don't shorten wait times; and they undermine the universality of our public health care! 14/21
➡️s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/parkland-resea…
➡️policynote.ca/5-reasons-why-…
➡️nupge.ca/sites/default/…

Not to mention, private clinics siphon health care resources (including staff!) out of the public system, meaning that privatization actually often LENGTHENS wait times! 15/21

This is especially worrisome while Alberta is facing staffing shortages across the province! Unsurprisingly, we’ve heard nothing from the government as to how they intend to staff the expanded facilities without contributing to the problem. 16/21
globalnews.ca/news/8040831/s…

The pandemic forced AHS to cancel non-urgent surgical procedures, leaving a backlog of about 25,000 surgeries in AB. By September, 88% of that backlog had been eliminated according to the government. 17/21

Shandro himself has identified that AB recovered faster than other provinces in part by ramping up summer surgeries, working weekends, & hiring more staff—a sure indicator that these PUBLIC solutions could reduce wait times & surgical backlogs even in non-pandemic times! 18/21

AB needs systemic changes that will address issues of wait times, but they must be in line with the vision of improving on the solid foundation that we have within our public system. Contracting out will only add to complexity & inequity. 19/21
healthydebate.ca/2020/08/topic/…

Or, as a young Tyler Shandro so eloquently put it, years before becoming Alberta's current Health Minister: "The problem with allowing private clinics is that their inefficiency will cause more stress on the publicly-funded health care." 20/21

So take it from Tyler Shandro, Tyler Shandro’s plan to privatize Alberta’s surgeries is a bad one! 21/21

PS: Help us keep health care PUBLIC! Join Friends of Medicare to help us continue our work to protect & strengthen Alberta's invaluable public health care.
friendsofmedicare.org/donate

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