Alberta accepts bid for private hip-knee surgical clinic on First Nation land
EDMONTON — The Alberta government has approved a bid by the Enoch Cree Nation near Edmonton to build a private clinic to perform thousands of publicly covered hip and knee surgeries.
© Provided by The Canadian Press
Health Minister Jason Copping says the clinic is to be built by the middle of next year to reduce a backlog of orthopedic operations in and around the capital.
The clinic will be a partnership between the Enoch Cree and Surgical Centres Inc., a private operator that runs seven clinics in Canada, including two in Calgary.
Alberta Health says the partners will be responsible for building and equipment costs, while surgeries themselves are to be covered by public funds.
Copping says there are almost 23,000 Albertans waiting for orthopedic surgeries, one-third of those for knee replacements.
Enoch Cree Chief Billy Morin says the centre will offer culturally appropriate care as well.
“When an Indigenous person from High Level comes here, they’re going to get not just the fancy building with the nice Indigenous pictures,” Morin said Wednesday.
“They’re going to get a new experience where they’re going to have a Dene person talking to them. They’re going to have traditional healing and medicine right here on the First Nation offered to them as well — and to all Albertans, quite frankly, if they want to go down that road, too.”
It's expected the clinic will perform up to 3,000 orthopedic procedures a year, an estimated 17 per cent increase in the Edmonton region.
Copping said more than half of all Alberta orthopedic patients are on hold for surgery beyond recommended wait times.
“People are waiting far too long for hip and knee replacements. We need to do a lot more of them and this is going to help us get it done."
Copping said the project is modelled on cataract and other eye procedures done under public care in private clinics to reduce wait lists.
The total surgical wait list is pegged at just over 70,000.
Copping said having the work done through public clinics saves money, but the Opposition NDP said it’s actually more expensive and inefficient in the long run.
“The UCP has provided no reason why new surgery facilities cannot be built in and operated in the public system,” said health critic David Shepherd.
“The UCP’s surgical initiative provides public dollars to help private companies profit, while deliberately neglecting Alberta’s public health care.
“The UCP’s mismanagement of health care and neglect of the public system has caused partial closures in more than 20 hospitals across Alberta.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2022.
Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press
Enoch Cree Nation part of new charter surgical facility slated to be built next year
Ashley Joannou -EDMONTON JOURNAL
Enoch Cree Nation together with the company Surgical Centres Inc. are in negotiations with Alberta Health Services to offer hip and knee surgeries at a new charter surgical facility expected to be built next year.
Chief Billy Morin said the new Sovereign Medical facility will meet all medical standards while also being a chance to offer services to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients including those who might feel uncomfortable in a standard hospital setting.
“When an Indigenous person from High Level comes here, they’re going to get not just the fancy building with the nice Indigenous pictures,” he said at the announcement Wednesday.
“They’re going to get a new experience where they’re going to have a Dene person talking to them. They’re going to have traditional healing and medicine right here on the First Nation offered to them as well and to all Albertans, quite frankly, if they want to go down that road, too.”
While the contract with AHS is still being finalized, the government estimates the new facility will offer about 3,000 publicly funded hip and knee replacements and other joint procedures in the Edmonton area each year – about 17 per cent more than were performed from 2019 to 2020.
“Traditionally, chartered surgical facilities haven’t performed hip and knee replacements, since many patients need to stay overnight after those surgeries,” Premier Jason Kenney said.
“But I can say that Enoch Cree Nation and Surgical Centres Inc. have stepped forward with a very strong proposal to accommodate more complex surgeries while following the stringent standards of care that we expect in Alberta.”
Kenney said the new facility will offer more space for surgeons already working in Alberta who want to do more surgeries.
“Obviously they have a financial incentive. But they also want to get their patients to have shorter wait times but there’s limited capacity in the current hospital environment,” he said.
The UCP government has been expanding chartered surgical facilities as part of a promise to reduce wait times in the province down to clinically appropriate levels.
Alberta’s NDP Opposition has been openly opposed to the push to increase charter facilities, arguing that it diverts surgical resources out of the public system.
“The UCP has provided no reason why new surgery facilities can not be built in and operated in the public system. The UCP’s surgical initiative provides public dollars to help private companies profit, while deliberately neglecting Alberta’s public health care,” health critic David Shepherd said in a statement Wednesday.
A government statement said it is expecting cost savings in the range of 20 per cent for each procedure performed in the community facility rather than in a hospital.
Construction of this latest facility is expected to be complete in about 14 months so it can be offering surgeries starting in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Details about how much the new facility is going to cost were not made public. Steve Buick, press secretary for Health Minister Jason Copping, said the government of Alberta is not contributing to the capital costs.
The details of the business partnership between Enoch Cree Nation and Surgical Centres Inc. are proprietary, “like the finances of any other company under contract,” he said in an email.
Surgical Centres Inc. already runs seven facilities across Canada, including two in Calgary.
ajoannou@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ashleyjoannou
Ashley Joannou -EDMONTON JOURNAL
Enoch Cree Nation together with the company Surgical Centres Inc. are in negotiations with Alberta Health Services to offer hip and knee surgeries at a new charter surgical facility expected to be built next year.
Chief Billy Morin said the new Sovereign Medical facility will meet all medical standards while also being a chance to offer services to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous patients including those who might feel uncomfortable in a standard hospital setting.
“When an Indigenous person from High Level comes here, they’re going to get not just the fancy building with the nice Indigenous pictures,” he said at the announcement Wednesday.
“They’re going to get a new experience where they’re going to have a Dene person talking to them. They’re going to have traditional healing and medicine right here on the First Nation offered to them as well and to all Albertans, quite frankly, if they want to go down that road, too.”
While the contract with AHS is still being finalized, the government estimates the new facility will offer about 3,000 publicly funded hip and knee replacements and other joint procedures in the Edmonton area each year – about 17 per cent more than were performed from 2019 to 2020.
“Traditionally, chartered surgical facilities haven’t performed hip and knee replacements, since many patients need to stay overnight after those surgeries,” Premier Jason Kenney said.
“But I can say that Enoch Cree Nation and Surgical Centres Inc. have stepped forward with a very strong proposal to accommodate more complex surgeries while following the stringent standards of care that we expect in Alberta.”
Kenney said the new facility will offer more space for surgeons already working in Alberta who want to do more surgeries.
“Obviously they have a financial incentive. But they also want to get their patients to have shorter wait times but there’s limited capacity in the current hospital environment,” he said.
The UCP government has been expanding chartered surgical facilities as part of a promise to reduce wait times in the province down to clinically appropriate levels.
Alberta’s NDP Opposition has been openly opposed to the push to increase charter facilities, arguing that it diverts surgical resources out of the public system.
“The UCP has provided no reason why new surgery facilities can not be built in and operated in the public system. The UCP’s surgical initiative provides public dollars to help private companies profit, while deliberately neglecting Alberta’s public health care,” health critic David Shepherd said in a statement Wednesday.
A government statement said it is expecting cost savings in the range of 20 per cent for each procedure performed in the community facility rather than in a hospital.
Construction of this latest facility is expected to be complete in about 14 months so it can be offering surgeries starting in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Details about how much the new facility is going to cost were not made public. Steve Buick, press secretary for Health Minister Jason Copping, said the government of Alberta is not contributing to the capital costs.
The details of the business partnership between Enoch Cree Nation and Surgical Centres Inc. are proprietary, “like the finances of any other company under contract,” he said in an email.
Surgical Centres Inc. already runs seven facilities across Canada, including two in Calgary.
ajoannou@postmedia.com
twitter.com/ashleyjoannou
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