Yesterday, the Alberta Party released a press release asking the government to clarify where the money from the new federal Canada Health Transfer deal (estimated at an additional $900 million dollars) would be spent. We want to see a more open dialogue with Albertans about how to best use this windfall.  There is speculation that the extra dollars may not in fact result in any additional expenditure in healthcare, but rather free up money currently spent by the province on healthcare to go to other sources. I think healthcare is a clear priority for most Albertans and while simply spending more money without careful thought is not the answer, this additional revenue presents a unique opportunity to address areas that have been long neglected in healthcare, but could yield tremendous benefit down the road- like prevention.

Currently, we have a rather serious imbalance in our healthcare spending: less than 2% is spent on prevention, while 98% is spent on treatment. This isn't smart. We should be looking at ways to prevent disease and injury, rather than just continually treating it. We should be focusing on improving the overall health of Albertans because it makes sense in the long run to have a healthier population. A strong wellness strategy will reduce healthcare costs, improve productivity and economic strength and, of course, do a great deal to improve the overall welfare of our citizens. With growing childhood obesity rates, high suicide rates and an aging demographic, Alberta, more than ever, needs to invest in prevention. If we simply continue blindly down our current path, we will most certainly cripple the public healthcare system in the near future.

Initiating new ideas and changing priorities requires energy, dedication, intelligence and, of course, money. There are costs involved to get things going. I've heard over and over that "of course prevention is a good idea, but where do we get the money from? We can't ignore the people who are sick now".  With this windfall, there is absolutely no excuse to delay. Continuing to do the "same old, same old" and placing so little effort on prevention will only ensure continued lack of care, significant stresses on our public system and further deteriorate the morale of our healthcare professionals.  We need a plan to improve the overall health of Albertans not just treat the healthcare needs of Albertans. By working with healthcare professionals, Albertans from all areas of the province, local communities and paying close attention to the wellness strategies that are working around the world, we can devise a homegrown, smart and flexible approach to maintaining and improving our health.

It may not be all that sexy and the political benefits are minimal (fewer ribbons to cut) but prevention is the best medicine!

Let's give the healthcare system a booster shot to protect against illness, not just continue to place a bandaid on our problems.

To read more about our healthcare policy, visit this page. 

To see a video of me talking about our healthcare priorities, scroll to the end of this link.