We need to hear from you!

Friends, I don’t need to tell you there is a huge disconnect between what is happening in Alberta and what health officials at AHS, and politicians, are telling people. 

We started January fielding calls from media asking if it was true OMICRON is having no effect on the ability of health-care workers to respond to Albertans in need of care. The media was asking us because AHS was telling them it was having “…no impacts to service or response times…”. It made no sense. How could AHS say there has been no impact to health-care workers when police and fire departments are holding news conferences saying they’re experiencing huge numbers of people off sick and that it is impacting service? How could AHS say it when other provinces are announcing their health-care systems are being impacted? How could they say it when we can see infection numbers growing by the thousands every day? 

Not only is it out of touch, but it is also disrespectful to all of you on the front line of health care and the risk you put yourselves at every day. Well, AHS isn’t getting away with it because we’ve been raising the alarm and telling Albertans what you’ve been telling us. The media is telling our stories at a rate I have never seen before, and we are using the opportunity by calling for AHS to release the information it has on how staffing levels are being impacted by Omicron. 

We need you to keep sharing your stories with us at action@hsaa.ca so we can continue to share them with Albertans. It’s important we continue to advocate on your behalf and push back against the false reality being created. The best way to do it is to keeping telling people what’s happening to the health-care experts they trust and are relying on. It is our job to sound the alarm for Albertans because they need to know what we see every day on the front lines of health care. And, if the messaging coming out of AHS is being dictated by the current government this must stop. 

This government needs to stop interfering in the release of information and allow AHS leadership to address this crisis. This government needs to stop spinning tales about the economy of Alberta and focus on the health of Albertans. So, please, keep sharing your stories. If you are feeling fatigued and that you have nothing more to give right now, I do need you to do something. Talk to each other. Check-in with each other. You are uniquely qualified to understand what each of you is going through. And access the EFP benefits provided by your employer. 

Every little bit can help. You are the best line of defense to protect Albertans, and each other. 

In solidarity, 

Mike