Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Alberta Health Services Budget has a Billion Dollar Deficit
Share:
by albertacowpoke | June 30, 2009 at 04:20 pm
498 views | 36 Recommendations | 11 comments
Videos
For the first time in 16 years, Alberta has posted and 852 Million Dollar deficit at the close of the fiscal year 2008/09.
Recently due to budget shortfalls, Alberta has announced some changes as to how Health Care is administered. The government also announced changes to the Seniors Drug Plan and has taken sex change surgery off the items covered.
As a another cost savings measure it reorganized Alberta from it.s 8 Health Regions to an Alberta Health Services Super Board.
Today this board announced from Calgary Children's Hospital that it will post a 1.2 Billion Dollar deficit.for the upcoming fiscal year. The board expects to spend 10.9 Billion with revenues of only 9.8 Billion.
Alberta with a population of just over 3 Million spends 30 Million Dollars a day on Health Care.
The Nurses Union accused the Alberta Government of a hiring freeze for nurses. Health Alberta said they hired 152 during the last three weeks.
Many more cuts can be expected to Alberta Health Care.
The new Alberta Health Services superboard posted a deficit of $1.1 billion in the coming fiscal year.
The number was released just after 1 p.m. at a news conference at the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary. The board expects to spend $10.9 billion in the coming fiscal year, with revenues of $9.8 billion.
The board pointed out that Alberta spends $30 million a day on health.
"Alberta spends far more far more per head of population, far more and we don't get better life expectancy," said Alberta Health Services CEO Stephen Duckett.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (11)
at 16:34 on June 30th, 2009
Wow, that's alot!
at 19:17 on June 30th, 2009
And this in a province that had no deficit only two years ago? A Billion in such a short time is rather extraordinary.
at 19:36 on June 30th, 2009
This is a Province that didn't have a deficit last year. In fact until this year they had a law that forbid deficit financing. It was brought in under Ralph Klein when Alberta became the only jurisdiction in Canada that was debtfree.
at 20:19 on June 30th, 2009
Good times are coming to an end indeed.
at 21:43 on June 30th, 2009
So it means that. .IENs will not be hired?. . so sad. .. :(
at 03:01 on July 1st, 2009
A freeze not only costs more, it also increases mistakes and runs down nurses. There are many horror stories out there on overworked nurses and their assistants. They had to shut down the Vegreville Hospital last year due to improper sanitation. There were also instances of reused needles in North Central Alberta.
The new Alberta Health Services Super Board was to adress some of these problems. I'm not sure that decentralization can achieve this.
at 16:39 on June 30th, 2009
It is, but I think the good times are coming to an end. The end result is that the money has to come from someplace. So there are choices to make. Hopefully they look at the fat in the bureaucracy first. My concern is that they will close health units in rural areas and make us all travel an hour into the city for lab work, etc.
at 21:43 on June 30th, 2009
So it means that. .IENs will not be hired?. . so sad. .. :(
at 00:44 on July 1st, 2009
I wonder how much money goes to paying nurses overtime and sick time because of the RN freeze, since it is reported that nurses work 250,000 hours overtime in one week Canada-wide. That equates to half a billion dollars a year (extra) just in overtime because there are not enough nurses. That doesn't include the sick call. I wonder what Alberta's share of that is. Even if it is 10 percent, that's 5 million right there.
I could never understand the "freeze". It costs more.
at 20:23 on June 30th, 2009
Thank you Johann for commenting. Yep they are coming to an end.
at 15:12 on July 15th, 2009
If you people really knew how bad the system is run, you'd be scared to even set foot in a hospital.