Alberta opposition succeeds in push for emergency health-care debate

Opposition politicians successfully convinced the Speaker of the house to allow an emergency debate in the legislature Monday about health care, following what they say is the premier’s “puzzling refusal” to hold a public inquiry to determine if doctors were punished or paid to keep silent on health-care concerns.

“It is so urgent that the opposition parties and the independent member (Raj Sherman) have joined together,” said MLA Laurie Blakeman, who brought the motion forward for the debate that continued to push the government to launch a public inquiry. “It is a crisis of confidence for the public.”

Speaker Ken Kowalski approved the debate.

“In looking and hearing what I’ve heard in the last several hours, there is a willingness to proceed with the (emergency debate),” Kowalski said. When no one opposed, the debate went ahead.

“We do need to have this discussion,” agreed Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky during the afternoon debate. “Albertans have had enough of these unsubstantiated allegations.

“They want someone, anyone … to come forward with something along the lines of some evidence, preferably with some proof.”

He said he can’t imagine the auditor general would have signed off on accounting documents of Capital Health and other former health regions that hid doctor payouts. He and the government used Monday’s debate to attack the opposition for failing to prove their claims.

The last emergency debate was held last November and also dealt with mounting pressures for the government to deal with long wait times for care. Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman called for that debate and was supported by opposition members and all but three of the 23 Conservatives in the house.

During that debate, which lasted through the night, Sherman threw barbs at his own government for failing to respond to years-old warnings from emergency doctors that people were dying in hospital emergencies because they were waiting too long for care.

Soon after, Sherman was ejected from the Tory caucus.

On Monday, Sherman tabled documents he claimed was more evidence to suggest another doctor — himself — faced intimidation and professional repercussions for raising concerns about patients dying while waiting for health care.

Three letters show Sherman was not allowed to work at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for a period of time in 1999 due to inappropriate conduct involving both patients and other medical staff. What that conduct was is not described.

Sherman said similar intimidation is still happening today.

“These guys have been goons, and this gooning of front-line staff must end,” Sherman said. “That’s what they do to good, hardworking front-line staff.”

Last week, court documents showed Dr. Ciaran McNamee filed a lawsuit in 2002 alleging he was pushed out of his job as top thoracic surgeon in Edmonton after advocating for more health funding. The case was settled out of court. McNamee now works in Boston at Harvard University.

“These ‘goons’ railroaded a good guy and used doctors to do it ... and our home grown guy is in Harvard? The top place on the planet!,” Sherman said on Twitter.

On Sunday, Stelmach said an independent investigation by the Health Quality Council of Alberta will report to the public if emergency care or cancer care was compromised by delays or long wait lists, as suggested by 322 cases documented by emergency physicians at the University of Alberta Hospital.

Stelmach said calls for a separate judge-led public inquiry was “preposterous political theatre” on the part of the NDP, Alberta Liberals, Alberta Party, Wildrose Alliance and Sherman, an independent MLA.

On Monday morning, he refused to address the media on the issue when he spoke at the opening of the new library in Sherwood Park.

Tory leadership-hopeful Doug Griffiths spent the weekend in his community hospital with a sick relative and heard from emergency staff tired of having their professional integrity questioned by rogue MLA Dr. Raj Sherman.

“I heard doctors and nurses concerned about Dr. Sherman’s allegations that they can be bought off and bribed and paid for not doing service and they’re really upset about that,” Griffiths said. “They want their professional integrity back.”

Griffiths supported the calls from five opposition politicians for a public inquiry into the allegations, but said Sherman must provide concrete proof that doctors are intimidated, punished and paid off to keep quiet about long wait times and patient deaths.

“It upsets me that anybody would play poker with our health-care system and it’s high time he laid all the cards on the table and the best way to do that is a public inquiry where Dr. Sherman can be called to provide his evidence,” said Griffiths, one of four Tory MLAs running to replace Ed Stelmach as premier. “I’m not thrilled with the way he says he’s going to reveal evidence in dribs and drabs. This isn’t a political game.”

Griffiths said, “show some evidence or shut up. … It’s terrifying the health professionals. It’s terrifying the people in my constituency and everyone’s upset that these games are being played.”