DiscoverAirdrie spoke with Airdrie-Cochrane MLA, Peter Guthrie, about his endorsing of Danielle Smith in the leadership race and his concerns around the area's healthcare system. 

“I wanted to see who was all running and who I align with most. It became pretty clear to me that I aligned most with Danielle and I'm very, very happy to be supporting her and joining her campaign team.” 

Guthrie says he aligns with Smith the most because of her treatment of Albertans. 

“One of the things that Danielle is trying to put Alberta first and treating us with respect in Confederation. I really like the path that she's going down.” 

According to Guthrie, when Airdrie Urgent Care had to shut down Friday and Saturday evenings and nights, it was because only one physician was on call and he was not feeling well. 

“This is an obvious problem. And it's not only something that's in our healthcare system that's throughout multiple sectors right now. I've talked to too many nurses, physicians, EMS workers of all kinds, and they all have been telling me that this is a problem. It's not just a COVID-related problem with the last two years, this is a problem that's been building for years and years. We have a bureaucratic mess in the health care system.” 

Guthrie mentioned there's money being put into the system, and it's not getting to where it's needed. 

“I think health care reform should be top of mind for any candidate and any party that's going to be running.” 

According to Guthrie, a major factor that needs to be jumped on as soon as possible is triaging in the hospital. 

“We have ambulances that are spending their entire eight hours sitting up at a hospital. This is just not an efficient and effective use of resources. We need to get these drivers on the road immediately.” 

Guthrie finished off by saying this isn't an issue just in Airdrie or Cochrane, but it's all across Canada. 

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