Another Blow to a Vulnerable Population

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who has signed this petition so far. We are please to say that we are received some media interest in this appalling situation. We have learned that the likely plan is to privatize the services formerly provided by Alberta Health Care. The consequences of this change will be to expect patients, many of whom are on assistance because they are unable to work, to pay out-of-pocket for their care. This situation is unacceptable. Although the photographs may be hard to look at, these are real people who have suffered greatly and received new leases on life after receiving care at the Institute for Reconstructive Services in Medicine (iRSM) in Edmonton.

iRSM is overseen by Covenant Health. Covenant Health's motto of "Creating vibrant communities of health and healing" and their values of "compassion, respect, collaboration, social justice, integrity, and stewardship" are lovely sentiments. There is little evidence that any of those values is being displayed in this case; they are simply platitudes if they are not implemented. We hope that this petition will bring awareness to the situation faced by head and neck cancer patients and their loved ones. 

Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) patients are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Their worlds and their way of living have been completely upended. They have received a devastating diagnosis and undergone surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. These treatments saved their lives. However, oftentimes there are ongoing complications and conditions that will be with these people for the remainder of their lives. They suffer from facial disfigurement, speech impairments, 
swallowing issues to name but a few of the physical challenges. The traumatic effect of their situation also causes enormous stress and a loss of identity. They often retreat into very solitary lives. They are also at a higher risk of recurrence of cancer. 
Thirty years ago, the Institute for Reconstructive Services in Medicine (iRSM) (formerly known as COMPRU) began to do research into reconstructive techniques to help alleviate some of the complications post treatment. They became a world-renowned facility and one of only a handful of facilities that exist in the world. People come from all over this province to receive 
reconstruction. These reconstruction procedures are complicated and require the skilled hands of a highly trained specialist. They cannot be done in a dentist’s chair or even in a regular prosthodontist’s office. For many years, patients have been provided with these services and given back some of what has been taken from them: prostheses to replace jaw bones or cheek bones 
removed due to cancer; dental implants to allow a more normal way of eating, etc., etc. Although there are waitlist due to the complexity of these procedures, patients were confident in knowing help would be there when issues arose.
Fast forward to today. HNC patients are facing another devastating reality. The one and only maxillofacial prosthodontist at iRSM – in other words, the only specially trained professional qualified to do these complicated treatments for HNC patients in this part of the country – has not been given a new contract. His current contract ends on June 30, 2024. People needing urgent repairs are being told that their procedures cannot be started because the repairs would not be able to be completed before the contract ends.
The UCP government and Premier Danielle Smith’s ideology is at fault here. They are treating patients – vulnerable human beings who have already suffered enough – like lab rats left to their own devices in a world where alternatives simply do not exist. The wonderful work done by the caring and skilled professionals at iRSM is being disregarded and, in turn, the people who rely on services and treatment at iRSM are literally being discarded. 
If you feel the injustice of this inhumane and reckless behaviour on the part of Alberta’s government, please write to your MLA. Time is of the essence.