A big part of the problem is the upper crust making policy, setting budgets, etc, etc, would never sit in an emergency for 20 hours or be on a 4 year wait list for a surgery. Same with the politicians in the Province. None of the decision and Policy makers at alberta Health Services, or the Provincial Government are effected by the policy they implement. The two tier system of health care is very alive and well in Alberta. Anyone remember last year during the panic to get the H1N1 vaccine? At the height of women, children, and seniors waiting in long line-ups in the outdoors the Calgary Flames had enough vaccine delivered by Alberta Health services and a nurse to give injections to the team, admin, and their families. This yet is another window that shows us how things function inside Alberta Health Services.
The health care budget in this Province grows each year, it consumes around 40% of the annual Provincial budget. More money is not making it better; using wait times as the measurement is just keeps getting worse.
There are more administrators than front line workers in the Alberta health care system.