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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tories should name poor-performing hospitals: Fraser Institute, Alberta NDP
The Fraser Institute’s Hospital Report Card, produced by Nadeem Esmail, Director of Health Systems Performance, reveals deficiencies and poor performance in some Alberta hospitals. But Alberta Health Services is refusing to provide the hospital names for the ongoing Fraser Institute study. This has the Institute and NDP MLA Rachel Notley, an unlikely coalition, demanding accountability and transparency in Alberta's hospital sector.
Esmail reports that one Alberta hospital has an injury rate for newborns more than four times the provincial average. Patients in another unnamed Alberta hospital are five times as likely to pick up an infection following medical care, while patients in yet another hospital are more than twice as likely to experience bed sores.
In contrast to the lack of transparency in Alberta’s hospital sector, the British Columbia government allowed hospitals to be named in the Institute's BC hospital report card released in May.
“Providing the names of all BC hospitals provided British Columbians with access to information on indicators of inpatient quality and patient safety for all of their acute care hospitals,” said Esmail. “Why will the Alberta government not provide the same openness and information to Albertans?”
MLA Notley believes healthcare consumers in Alberta have a right to his hospital information.
“Albertans have the right to know if their local hospital is the one most likely to give them an infection, or the one where injury rates among newborns are four times the provincial average,” Notley said. “Only the most secretive government in Canada would keep this kind of damning information from the public.”
Esmail will be speaking on the need for accountability and transparency in Alberta's hospital sector at a Fraser Institute lunch presentation on July 22 at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
Posted by Matthew Johsnton
Posted by Western Standard on July 15, 2009 | Permalink
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