COVID-19: Alberta MLA under fire for comments on AHS’ handling of pandemic
Global News
Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland MLA Shane Getson has come under fire for comments made on Facebook regarding AHS' handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MLA for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland has come under fire for comments he made on Facebook over the weekend.
As Alberta hospitals continue to grapple with the fourth wave of COVID-19, Shane Getson wrote Saturday that someone had tagged him in a 2016 news article detailing the salaries of high-profile Alberta Health Services employees.
“For this kind of money, and the amount we pour into the system, I think we need to be getting more bang for our buck when it comes to resource planning,” the post read.
“ICU bed levels that were available for the public dropped unacceptably low coming into cold and flu season and a prediction of the fourth wave. Hence the ‘crunch, and strain’ on the system. The wave hit, but AHS didn’t staff the beds adequately to meet their own predictions?”
Many health-care workers took to social media, frustrated with the UCP MLA’s comments at a time when, in some regions, the health-care system is on the verge of collapsing due to the influx of ICU patients.
“It is with great dismay, disappointment and indignation that we feel we must respond to the statements made on Facebook by MLA Getson,” a Monday letter from the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association stated.
The three-page letter also described the post as a “personal attack” on the president and CEO of AHS, and pointed to the “complete lack of understanding” about ICU capacity and how Alberta Health directs AHS operations.
Also adding their voice to the mix was Opposition Leader Rachel Notley.
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