Physicians in Strathcona County are calling on the county for help.
A group of doctors made a surprise presentation to county council this week, to ask for its help in pressuring the province to improve the level of health care patients in the community receive.
The majority of the presentation focused on the doctors' concerns about the Strathcona County hospital. The facility is not even built yet, but doctors say the way the facility stands is not sufficient for patients in the area.
"We need your help to advocate for a more complete set of services than is currently planned for our hospital," Dr. Jim Adams told council. "The structure will likely have insufficient services, requiring patients to be shipped off to Edmonton hospitals. It seems our so-called hospital may end up simply being an over-expensive walk-in clinic."
Strathcona County mayor Linda Osinchuk has previously voiced her concern over the lack of a 24 hour care facility in the county, as well as other concerns she has with the hospital itself.
Dr. Adams is particularly concerned about lab and X-Ray availability for patients.
"Trying to take care of patients becomes more and more difficult when just down the street (in Edmonton) you can be taken care of a lot better, but yet, we have 100,000 people we can't take care of as adequately as we need to," Dr. Adams explained.
He is also concerned about the timeline for the opening of the hospital, which has been delayed due to construction and downgraded to an urgent care centre.
"We feel like we're providing second-world care for a first-world community," Dr. Adams told council.
He says he's extremely frustrated and doesn't believe the province considers the hospital a priority. He hopes the county will step in and help.
"It's just politics. So, we're trying to say 'hey, Strathcona County has 100,000 people, the doctors are asking for help to take care of those people, can we be considered?'"
Members of council say they were shocked to hear what the doctors had to say.
"Collectively, our jaws hit the floor. When you have the local physicians saying this is going to impact the quality of health of your residents, it's shocking to hear that from the medical community," said county councillor Jason Gariepy. "If the doctors are coming out, that's your first sign that there's some real issues with this facility."
The hospital was supposed to open in the fall of this year, but that date has since been pushed back to early 2014.
"It's beyond frustration. People are tired of hearing different stories about the status of the hospital," Gariepy explained.
He says council has been pushing for the hospital for years and will do what it can to continue to pressure the government.
"I think we've got to continue to demand meetings with Alberta Health Services. We have to ask for clarification from the Premier exactly on the status of this hospital," Gariepy said. "I would expect us to have a meeting set up with our MLAs as soon as possible to clarify some comments, and hopefully for our MLAs to advocate on our behalf to get a meeting with Alberta Health Services as soon as possible."
Premier Alison Redford says health care in Strathcona County is a priority but, says it isn't second-world care.
"I think those are, frankly, ridiculous comments," Redford said Thursday. "I think if people want to have sensible and measured conversations that's fine, but let's keep it in perspective."
Dr. Adams says he wants action, and doesn't want to spend his time dealing with politicians.
"It's unknown territory. What I do is I sit down with a patient, I work through the problems and I'm trying to get the best care for them the best way I can. So, I want to spend my time doing that. Doing politics? Not in my realm at all but, if that's where we have to go to be able to help our patients, then that's the next step we have to make."
With files from Fletcher Kent.
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2013.