For immediate release: Jan. 15, 2003

EDMONTON – Employees, clients and other Albertans deserve answers now to how mental health services will be delivered after the operations of the Alberta Mental Health Board are transferred to regional health authorities in April, says the president of the union representing AMHB employees.

"The mental health board’s chief executive has admitted that he has not been given the answers that are needed by everyone," said Dan MacLennan, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. "It’s time to provide those answers.

"Albertans also need assurance that mental health services will continue to be offered by the health authorities at the same level or higher than they are today by the AMHB," MacLennan said.

AUPE represents more than 2,000 employees of the AMHB. They are members of AUPE Local 042.
In a memorandum to all AMHB managers dated Jan. 13, 2003, the board’s acting Chief Executive Officer Ray Block made it clear that the board’s managers, like its employees, are in the dark as to how the transition will be carried out.

Block’s two-page memo – entitled "Update on Transfer of Mental Health Services" – was full of such phrases as "we are waiting for an official announcement" … "we do not have all the answers yet" … "I cannot provide you with absolute answers at this time."

Block did tell his managers that a meeting is scheduled this week between AMHB board members and Robert Palmer, Alberta Health and Wellness deputy minister. "I am hopeful that more information will be available following these meetings, and that a formal announcement from AH&W will be made at the end of this month."
Block said AMHB staff have put together a transition information package, recently redrafted to account for the cut in the number of RHAs to nine from 17, and that the work is almost complete.

He said the AMHB has identified three leaders to oversee the transfer. They are Sharon Wilkins for Regions 1, 2 and 3; Brenda Rebman for Regions 4 and 5; and Ruby Brown for regions 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Block noted in the memo that the AHHB has written the CEOs of each RHA suggesting a plan to assess their readiness to receive the services of AMHB and asking them to appoint leaders to oversee the transfer.
MacLennan said the tone of Block’s memo suggests that the RHAs have yet to do the work required to prepare for the need to offer a wide range of mental health services in the very near future.

"Failure to address these questions of course prolongs the period of uncertainty for employees and others affected, which is very unfair," MacLennan said. "But it also raises questions about the ability of the RHAs to deliver these important services.

"Failure to maintain these services will have serious implications for the health of the patients who count on these services, and for all members of our society," MacLennan warned.

"AUPE opposed this transfer because we feared it would result in a disruption of mental health services," he said. "We felt that rather than fragmenting the service to various authorities, it could be maintained and strengthened as a province-wide board.

"It appears that fragmentation may now be happening, at a time when there may be even more change coming to health regions, and the lack of information regarding this is unfair and in no way convinces anyone that a seamless transition is under way," MacLennan said.

For more information, contact
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)