A grassroots group in central Alberta is aiming to fundraise hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace old, outdated acute care beds at the local health centre. 

Residents in Innisfail, about 30 kilometres south of Red Deer, started a fundraising committee about a year ago, aiming to replace 28 beds at the Innisfail Health Centre. 

The beds aren’t cheap — each one costs between $12,000 and $18,000 each.

But committee member Leslie-Ann Epp said something had to be done.

“There’s just not the funding to replace all 28 beds and it really is necessary,” said Epp.

“One of the nurses had actually said to me at one point she’d rather go back to the old crank beds than try to deal with these beds that were not functioning well.” 

So far the group’s efforts have helped raise enough for 11 new beds at the health centre, including two that were donated by AHS and two donated by Red Deer Regional Health Foundation.

Epp said the upgraded beds are already making a difference. 

“The best feedback I’ve had from staff is they’re so happy with those bed alarms. I think comfort and being able to rest is key to healing anyway.”

The group has so far raised about $180,000 but there is still significant fundraising to be done to get the other 17 beds, as the team is still about $295,000 away from its initial goal.  

John Strong, executive director of the Wetaskiwin Health Foundation, a non-profit in central Alberta dedicated to health care fundraising that has been working with the Innisfail group, says too often it falls to grassroots groups to fill funding gaps.

“We would prefer to be buying only enhancement equipment, but the reality is we are buying front-line equipment in rural centres right now,” Strong said.

“[Locals] understand that maybe we’re never going to get this service in Innisfail. We want it here and we think the government should put it here, but they’re not going to. And so we will take it upon ourselves to do that.”

Philanthropic support

Alberta Health Services said in a statement that the health authority is “incredibly grateful, and appreciative, of the efforts by the Innisfail Health Centre fundraising committee to support the replacement of acute care beds at the Innisfail Health Centre.”

AHS said philanthropic support plays an important role in supplementing the support it receives from government. 

The provincial Ministry of Hospital and Surgical Health Services said in a statement “that rural and urban communities face different health care challenges,” saying they have created and invested in initiatives for rural health care. 

The ministry noted the Innisfail Health Centre recently received $3.3 million to renovate its ambulance bay doors and said health foundations “play a crucial role in supporting our health system.”

Dr. Rithesh Ram, a physician based in Drumheller and the Alberta representative for the Society of Rural Physicians of Canada, said it’s important to keep patients in their own communities and thinks buying equipment – like the Innisfail fundraising committee has been doing – can open up the capacity for more jobs.

“It’s one of those chicken-and-egg scenarios. You can wait until you think there’s enough personnel around to be able to staff it. But then as a human being, if you are one of those techs, you’re not going to just sit around and wait … you’re going to get a job wherever actually has [the equipment].”

Ram thinks it’s good that communities are taking charge of their futures.

“They go fundraise and they get it as opposed to standing with picket signs demanding that we need stuff. I think that takes much longer.”

In Innisfail, the committee is making strides. A recent Oktoberfest event brought in about $30,000. Strong said he hopes the committee will keep up its momentum. 

“If your donation could save one patient, isn’t it worth it?” He said.