Clearwater County’s council has taken a bold step to address concerns over the way Alberta Health Services (AHS) grants surgical privileges to rural hospitals, calling on the provincial government to launch an independent investigation into the issue. At a March 11 council meeting, Councillor Genny Mehlhaff presented a motion urging the Government of Alberta to examine AHS Central Medical Affairs and its approach to privileging surgeons at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre.
“I would like to make a motion that Clearwater County request an independent investigation into AHS Central Medical Affairs and how they are handling surgical privileging in rural Alberta,” Mehlhaff said during the meeting, expressing frustration over the ongoing challenges faced by local health care providers. “We need to be able to attract physicians to this community, and if they’re continually denied privileges, we’re never going to get them here.”
Mehlhaff explained surgical privileging using a number of examples. “Central Medical Affairs is giving different privileges [here], [we have] the same service in this hospital, but getting a different privileging in Drumheller and Stettler, but not here,” she said. “We had a surgeon ready to go, making one request to perform a specific type of plastic surgery, and that request was denied. This kind of inconsistency is hurting our ability to serve the community.”
She adds the change in privileging may stem from Rocky’s relatively close proximity to Red Deer.
The motion comes on the heels of a growing concern that surgeons at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre are facing barriers when it comes to accessing qualified surgeons. According to Mehlhaff, the situation has reached a critical point, with several physicians leaving due to the difficulty in obtaining privileges necessary to perform surgeries.
The motion also addresses the issue of attracting and retaining doctors, which has become increasingly difficult due to the privileging process. Mehlhaff explained that Clearwater County has already raised concerns with AHS through multiple channels, including public complaints, media articles, and direct requests for meetings. However, after months of advocacy, the situation remains unresolved.
Councillor Neil Ratcliffe expressed frustration at watching the local community lose out on opportunities while other communities move forward.
“I’d like to comment on how annoying it is that other people are benefitting from what our community has built, and our community can’t.” he says.
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The request for an independent investigation into AHS’s surgical privileging practices follows a pattern of concerns raised by local physicians, who have previously issued an open letter outlining their frustrations with the current system. In September 2024, 16 local physicians signed a letter raising urgent issues with how AHS was managing the surgical program at the Rocky Mountain House Health Centre, particularly in terms of access to the new operating room and the hospital’s ability to meet the growing surgical needs of the community.
In response to these concerns, AHS and a local physician’s group issued a joint statement in November 2024, promising a commitment to improving the surgical program. The statement included plans for the recruitment of a full-time general surgeon and a general practitioner with anesthesia training. AHS also committed to improving transparency and accountability with local health professionals regarding the hospital’s surgical program. However, local leaders feel that more needs to be done to address the ongoing privileging issues that continue to affect physicians’ ability to practice in the region.
A separate motion would request the letter be sent to the town of Rocky Mountain House for council’s consideration.
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