Dear Editor:
I was excited to see the Rimbey renal dialysis group’s plight had made front-page news (Review, March 12) but was once again disappointed with the misleading facts and figures presented by officials representing the usage capacity at the different dialysis units in the area.
The numbers as facts misrepresent the situation.
It was reported by the Northern Alberta Renal Program (NARP) that the Red Deer unit is using only 113 spots and has 120 units, supposedly indicating they are not full and have room.
Why then was my husband, Paul, again asked to go to the Wetaskiwin unit by a pleading Red Deer unit manager who phoned and said they had a Wetaskiwin person who needed to come to the Red Deer for a procedure?
We agreed to go to help out someone from Wetaskiwin. It was extra travel and expense but we did it knowing we may need help with appointments some time.
When we got to Wetaskiwin the attending nurse asked why we were there and we explained the phone call we had got. The young guy in the next chair said, “Oh, that was supposed to be me but they got me done early (in Red Deer) and they decided I felt good enough to come back home to Wetaskiwin for my treatment and so I got bumped for someone that needed it worse than me.”
The paper reports that Wetaskiwin uses only 47 out of 72 places available. When I asked, they said they are basically full but only run two shifts, not three on that day, so maybe they are only using 65 per cent of the spaces available, but because of shortages of staffing due to lack of funding that is all they can do.
It was reported that Rocky Mountain House is using only 18 out of 36 stations (50 per cent). Why then did a lady from Rocky Mountain House have to travel all the way to Red Deer three times a week for months because they had no room for her there until recently?
Why was one of our Rimbey people who normally dialyses in Red Deer asked to go to Rocky Mountain House for a while because Red Deer needed the space?
Figures presented by NARP misrepresent and mislead the public. We need to let people know what is really happening.
Actual physical spots (on paper) are available but there is not enough staffing or funding to open all the supposedly available spaces. Room is at a premium.
NARP’s own figures indicate in 2010 there were more than 1,370 more Albertans living with end stage renal disease than in 2001.
Sign me disillusioned with the transparency in our health care system.
June Norvila,
Bentley