Privatization of Healthcare in Alberta - Article Review on Public Health

The Alberta healthcare system is currently facing a lot of problems especially from the wrangles between the government, policy makers and the opposition party in regard of privatizing the system. The citizens too and the health workers have gone public and criticized the health system a number of times thus calling for a deep review to establish the root problems and eradicate then. The government has stayed tight-lipped for a long time on the issue of privatizing the healthcare system despite the call by many stakeholders for the change to be carried out. The major debate, in this case, is the role of the private sector healthcare providers and what is needed to carry out a transformation of the system in Alberta. Trials to reach the Alberta health minister have currently been a failure as he is on vacation. According to the different peer-reviewed articles, the minister would have helped a lot in creating a better understanding and providing a wider scope of the topic under discussion. In this article, I review different articles pertaining this issue of privatization of the Alberta health care system. The articles will help decide whether its a correct move by the government and other stakeholders and also whether the services provided will be of the required quality.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The first article on review is the regional health authoritys act which is a review of a section of the laws of the country regarding the health care system. The act provides a base for policy creation and implementation on issues concerning the health sector. The main purpose of the article was to provide a breakdown of the regional health authoritys act in connection with the issue of privatizing the health care sector being faced by the government currently. The article thus shines more light on different provisions in the act that promote the restructuring of the system to an institutional level and also on the issue of privatization. A deep research shows that successful restructuring of the health care system calls for support of different stakeholders such as the private sector providers and other service providers. As a result, there is need of creation of monitoring methods for the private healthcare providers to ensure effectiveness, accountability, efficiency and quality service provision. The problem though arises because the different laws in the act dont offer a clear decision on the authority required to monitor the private sector .the different sectors in this act are reviewed and discussed in this paper. It shows the strengths and the weaknesses of the regional health authority act thus suggesting ways in which it can be reviewed to suit its role in a better way. Understanding the policies present helps to create boundaries on the activities the private sector undertakes and also provides a way of renewing any mistakes conducted during the period of offering services. It thus recommends the changes that can be done so as to streamline the healthcare system and ensure privatization is done accordingly is required.

There is an ongoing debate on whether the privatization of the healthcare system will have positive results especially on service delivery in Alberta. Different stakeholders are torn between the correct move to make and which side to support as they fear that a privatized health care system will not deliver as expected by many. The debate is based on whether the privatized sector will deliver, who will fund the services, different issues on financing. The question is how affordable the services will be after privatization and whether people will adopt the idea or not. The prices of private healthcare services are higher than those of the public sector thus the issue of control arises.

So as to understand all the issues that concern health care systems, we need to look at the system in a global aspect. Understanding policies of different countries concerning health, the vulnerable populations and laws and regulations governing the health sector help in restructuring it for better performance and long-term sustainability. According to Solomon R Benatar, the best way of responding to various challenges regarding protecting the individuals and also making health care more available and accessible to the people. The author focused on checking and addressing different ways in which the application of the law could help improve the health of a particular population and not just a particular citizen. The article goes on to show the changes that have occurred in terms of economic changes, innovations in the medical sector and how all these changes have benefited people in different locations in the world. Changes come with crisis thus the laws and policies should be dynamic and help maintain the quality services and flow with the changes.

As a result of the above issues, it is clear that health in the state of Canada is facing a number of political and economic issues thus calling for the implementation of a few changes to help streamline it. This has led to meetings between the government and public sector and private healthcare providers in an effort of this coming up with solutions. The issue that arises in these instances is the privatization of the healthcare system. It is important to check the history of the country in terms of health, politics and also economy so as to device correct solutions for the issue under discussion. Understanding the countrys political, economic and also the biomedical developments and innovations help in devising correct solutions to make healthcare provision available to all the citizens at affordable costs. There is just a narrow focus on the health disparities facing the health sector at the moment. Lack of good understanding on the history and causes of the disparities limits the capacity of decision-making in such a way that there is stagnation in the development of the Alberta health system.

The issue of creating a private wing in public and government funded hospitals in Alberta has attracted a lot of attention from different people and stakeholders globally and locally. Among this people, the physicians are the strongest opposes to the move as the see it as the diminishing of the status doctors have in the country. According to these physicians and other people commenting on the issue, the private sector should not benefit from the benefits enjoyed by the public hospitals especially in terms of funding. There should be a distinction between the private sector and the public sector so as to maintain a good health system. Incorporation of both under one institution will cause a two-tier health care system, and most of the stakeholders are against this move. Such arguments have incapacitated the move to privatize part of the health care system. Research carried out in the opinion of a number of people shows that most of the population is against the idea of creating a private sector in public hospitals. Most of them state that the two components cannot be integrated together as they will make the already unstable system weaker. Currently, it is unclear when a solution will be reached as all the parties have different opinions and suggestions regarding the privatization issue. As a result, this calls for deeper research, and review of policies, laws, and regulations as well as finding common ground to facilitate discussion so as to end the contradictions that have arisen with the move to privatize some sectors of the health system.

References

Benatar, S. R. (2013). Global health, vulnerable populations, and law. The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 41(1), 42-47.

Cairney, R. (1996). Plans to run private facility in public hospital draw some strong opposition in Alberta. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 154(10), 1543.

Romanow, R. (2002). Building on Values: Report of the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada [Discussion Papers].