BANFF – Banff Mineral Springs Hospital is working on a 10-year plan to outline priorities to inform decisions about services and programs for the next decade.
Through discussions with the hospital operational leadership team and physicians for the long-range service plan for the Covenant Health hospital, six key initiatives emerged, and at the top of the list, was the need for a stable, fulfilled and diverse workforce.
“This is our No. 1 priority,” said Margie Smith, site administrator at Banff Mineral Springs Hospital during a March 13 Banff town council meeting.
“As we work through the plan, we must recognize that some elements are foundational, like our workforce stabilization. We cannot achieve anything if we don’t have staff providing care.”
Initiatives include addressing gaps in local services like home care and palliative therapeutic services, and creating and increasing access to mental health and addictions services, like creating robust programs such as detox.
The hospital is also looking to establish a centre for excellence in orthopaedics and plastics surgery as one initiative, and consider expansion of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) contract to include the Bow Valley region.
Partnering to create a sustainable model for a primary care hub to help in resolving the crisis in access to family doctors and ensuring the Catholic-owned hospital is welcoming and safe for all are also top priorities for the hospital.
Smith said the long-range service plan is in the final phases of refinement, noting the hospital works closely with Alberta Health Services and Canmore General Hospital.
“We’re getting closer to an action plan, which is combined with capital planning, so including infrastructure and equipment, and then we will roll it into a site master plan,” she said.
“This work is projected to be completed in the spring of 2023.”
The long-range service plan has also been informed by the Banff Mineral Springs Hospital Community Board, which hosted a series of community consultations in November and December, 2021.
With 33 individuals from several organizations, such as businesses, RCMP, Alberta Health Services, Town of Banff, Bow Valley Family Resource Network, Parks Canada and more, one of the goals was to learn what the current, new and growing health needs are for residents of Banff and the broader Bow Valley.
The community members identified a range of health care services they did not believe meet current or future needs in areas of seniors’ health, mental health, addiction and related supports, palliative care, general health services accessibility and perceptions about Banff Mineral Springs Hospital.
Lori Bayne, chair of the hospital’s community board, said there was a call to help seniors with services and supports to help them to remain independent in their homes.
“They felt isolated prior to and including COVID,” said Bayne. “More opportunity for social engagement and connection was identified, and one example of this might be where we pair young adults with senior mentors.”
The consultations identified a need for more preventative mental health programs and a greater need for addiction and related supports, noting a lack of detox and rehabilitation services and preventative and post-care.
There was a call to make the hospital more inviting and supportive for all populations.
“During COVID when we asked people to stay away from the hospital, and that perception of the hospital being a bad place because that’s where the sick people go, that’s actually carried over,” said Bayne.
“People are more nervous to go to the hospital and we recognize that and want to bring the community back to the hospital.”
The consultation sessions also looked at a broader, more holistic set of factors that impact health and often at a more significant level than traditional health care services, with affordability a strong theme. It was also closely tied to concerns of economic and food security or insecurity, with housing at the top of the list when it came to affordability concerns.
In many cases, based on rental availability and housing prices, seasonal or immigrant workers are in various congregate living situations. COVID has only heightened some of these realities through increasing uncertainty of being able to stay in staff housing if they lost their jobs.
Bayne said these cramped quarters, in particular, were seen as leading to increases in issues such as drug and alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted disease, and in some cases violence – domestic or otherwise.
“And, of course, increased COVID transmissions, which we know,” she said in reference to cramped living arrangements.
Bayne said escalating food costs prior to, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have increased stress for locals.
“We saw this with the pressure placed on our food banks,” she said.
For Lake Louise, issues of isolation, transportation, affordability and economic security were seen as exacerbated compared to the reality in Banff.
This included access to traditional health care services and the ability to access these services in a cost-effective, timely and effective way.
“Access to traditional healthcare services during COVID was, quite frankly, unacceptable for them,” said Bayne.
Most of the issues identified in the discussions were also challenges for immigrant populations, but on a more significant level.
Cultural and language barriers become a factor in accessing services and transportation, while affordability issues can be more significant, especially if providing for family overseas.
Bayne said many immigrants don’t understand what is available to them or not, which becomes a factor in care and support.
“In some cases, where they come from different countries, they have a mistrust of government, so we know that we have to work around educating more around what they can access and the safety in that,” she said.
In the meantime, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital is working hard to retain and recruit staff given the challenges associated with burnout coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith said the hospital has taken part in recruitment fairs in Calgary and administrators are heading to Toronto for a health-care hiring fair at the beginning of April.
Smith said leadership and frontline roles are retiring and finding replacements is challenging.
“It’s really hard to recruit to the manager positions right now in healthcare. Everyone is so tired, no one wants to do more, but we’ll see if we can get some new blood coming in,” she said.
“But also retaining our own staff, scooping them up, embracing what they need individually at this time, is super important.”
Smith said the high cost of living, and lack of affordable and available housing in Banff is also a challenge for retention and recruitment of hospital staff.
She said the hospital is looking at incentives or ways to help long-term staff who want to stay in Banff and buy a home, such as a potential mortgage downpayment program.
“How do we keep our staff here is the hard part, so they don't want to leave the hospital,” she said. “They leave in tears, but they need to find a place that they can buy.”
