Sterilization and cleanliness problems aren't limited to hospitals in Vegreville and the East Central Health Region, says the president of the union representing surgical processors.
Doug Knight, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president, said a "culture of cutbacks" in the provincial government and health regions dating back to the mid-1990s has led to unfilled vacancies in surgical processing and cleaning departments across Alberta.
He has heard cases of Calgary licensed practical nurses getting their scrubs back from the washers with mop strings in the pockets.
"That means they're washing their scrubs with the mops," he told Sun Media.
Knight disapproves of hospitals sending their linens out to private cleaners where the hospital has little control of the cleaning process. He suggests immediately returning privatized cleaning and laundry services to the control of health regions.
Ed Stelmach--in good times and bad - has certainly been the recipient of Ralph Klein's legacy.
In the case of the staphylococcus infection at St. Joseph's General Hospital in Vegreville, the premier clearly got the dirty end of the stick.
Health Quality Council CEO Dr. John Cowell's damning report into the incident revealed that anomalies began showing up in East Central Health authority stats as early as 2003.
By the time Cowell's team finished their investigation, they found serious breaches of sterilization standards throughout the region.
The problem was so extensive that Alberta Health Minister Dave Hancock placed the region under direct government administration and fired the board.
But somewhere along the way, a fundamental aspect of the system - proper sanitation - has been allowed to slide.
This was clearly the case in the East Central Health region.
It also puts a spotlight on the role and responsibilities of health boards, which were partially elected at one time.
They have now deteriorated into Buddy Boards that are liberally stocked with friends of the PC Party as a reward for loyal service and dedication to the cause.
As part of his mandate from Stelmach, Hancock is now charged with reviewing the governance of health boards.
But even before it began, he ruled out a return to elected health boards.
Opposition parties say Premier Ed Stelmach must should some of the blame for the hospital sterilization scandal that has rocked Alberta's health care system and forced three-thousand former patients to be tested for HIV and hepatitis.Liberal health critic Laurie Blakeman says it's ironic that the same Tory politicians who helped created this sterilization crisis now want people to believe they're in the best position to fix the problems.
NDP Leader Brian Mason said Stelmach must shoulder some of the blame for the "mess" that is now affecting thousands of Albertans.
"This is a legacy of neglect that has affected the health of Albertans and Premier Stelmach bears significant responsibility," said Mason.
The auditor general pointed out three years ago that the committee that checks Alberta hospitals is unqualified, yet the premier has done nothing to change this, said Mason.
The premier also confirmed Thursday that the government is reviewing a master agreement for Alberta's so-called faith-based hospitals.
The controversial deal more than a decade ago kept boards in place at hospitals with religious ties at a time when other hospital boards were being dismantled as the province created health regions with new boards that would run all health facilities in the region.
The facility is run by volunteers and is known as a faith-based hospital. It works under a separate master agreement with the province. The East Central Health Region, however, also has responsibility under different legislation to run the hospital.
That was the wellspring of the problem, said Dr. John Cowell of the Health Quality Council.
He told a news conference in Calgary there there was acrimony and bureacuratic turf wars between the hospital board and the health region board. The health region didn't feel like it could step in unless asked and the hospital treated orders from the region as requests that could be acted on or ignored.
"There was a problem of two bosses and no bosses," said Cowell.
"At certain levels of both organizations there seemed to be much more focus on turf and not a focus on patient safety."
That problem flowed to people on the front line, he said. Nobody knew whom to report to, problems weren't getting solved, doctors declined to step in, morale dropped and health and safety practices spiralled out of control.
Then Cowell took aim at the board which he said had a "dysfunctional" relationship with the hospital, and did not show a "clear understanding of the seriousness of the MSRA situation and did not take action to improve the situation."
For that and much more, they are gone. But how they got there in the first place, Cowell chose to pin the tail on the political donkey.
"In terms of how these individuals are discovered and chosen and appointed," Cowell winked, "I think that's a question you should place right to the minister."
So I did.
Hancock quickly confessed that since these folks get their jobs from the government "these are political appointees."
They weren't always appointed, of course. For a brief moment in Tory time, a portion of health boards were elected.
That means you can de-elect them if they step out of line, unlike Hancock's Buddy Boards.
Part of Hancock's damage control is to develop a "culture of excellence." Including something he calls a "governance review and accountability framework."
You mean like elected health boards?
That's where Hancock started getting nervous and making Freudian slips like calling health care "haircut."
"No," the health minister blurted. "I don't foresee that."
"I'm elected and my colleagues in the legislature are elected to help set health policy for the province."
If they got their jobs in a vote, those regional health boarders would almost certainly go wild. Just like elected school board trustees do. Except they don't.
"I don't believe there has been pork barrelling of the health authorities," Hancock insisted, even though as the Minister Responsible for Edmonton, Hancock is the Grand Poopah of Pork for the Capital Region.
"In making appointments, we've always had to make sure we appoint good people," he said.
And now he's had to fire "good" people too.
Hancock calls the sideshow "irreparable and untenable" and boots the provincially appointed board. He is also expected to can a couple suits with the health region.He says he will put in provincial standards for infection prevention and control and he says he will make sure health regions know they are the boss. He also doesn't feel the health region board is clueless because they are Tory appointees.
"I don't believe there has been pork barrelling," insists the health minister. Couldn't that be cleared up if the health boards were elected as they were supposed to be?
