Health Resource Centre bankruptcy reveals the pitfalls of private health care delivery
Is it time for the public to take back Grace Hospital?
Calgary – David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, says that the financial failure of the Health Resource Centre (HRC) shows the drawbacks of private health care delivery and may provide an opportunity to restore capacity to the public system.
“Grace Hospital, now occupied by HRC, used to play a key role in public health in Calgary,” Swann says, “Until the Tories sold it for a song to private interests. Taxpayers have invested millions in this private facility over the years, and now might be the time for us to get our investment back.”
Swann wants to know how long Alberta Health Services (AHS) has known about HRC’s financial troubles.
“How has patient care been affected?” Swann asks. “Did AHS assign HRC hundreds of surgeries in mid-February to help keep them afloat?”
According to Swann, this situation illustrates the lack of accountability and transparency inherent in private health care delivery.
“If it’s feasible, pulling Grace Hospital back into the public system would be good for Calgary, good for Alberta, and good for patients,” Swann says. “This whole affair shows that the best option for stable, reliable health care is a well-run public system.”
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