Alberta Health Services is taking action in response to a review of incidences of errors in the interpretation of diagnostic imaging in the province, including Drumheller.
    Last week inSide Drumheller reported that the review of interpretations of CT scans performed in Drumheller was complete. This review was ordered last December. Today CT scans are still performed in Drumheller, however they are interpreted in Red Deer. The doctor whose work was reviewed continues to perform other forms of diagnostic imaging.
    Aside from the individual reviews in Calgary, Edmonton and Drumheller, Health Minister Fred Horne also ordered  system–wide reviews.
    According to a press release Dr. Dennis Kendel, conducted two reviews. The first review looked at licensing of radiologists and pathologists by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. The second review looked at credentialing and privileging within Alberta Health Services and its contracted providers.
    “Many Albertans suffered undue stress as a result of the errors that were made.  The goal of these reviews was to ensure we are doing all we can to prevent such errors from happening in the future so Albertans continue to have confidence in the care they receive,” said Horne. “Dr. Kendel’s recommendations support this goal. Together with Alberta Health Services and the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta, we have developed a comprehensive action plan to implement those recommendations and address the concerns identified through the reviews.”
    Key points found in his review were:
•    All radiologists and pathologists practising in Alberta are appropriately authorized by the CPSA to practise in these specialties, and CPSA policies and procedures around licensing decisions are sound and rigorous.
•    All medical staff appointments granted to radiologists and pathologists currently on medical staff with AHS are appropriate.
•    The privileges awarded by AHS to pathologists are generally appropriate and uniform across the province.  
•    The privileges awarded by AHS to radiologists are uneven and inconsistent between zones, and some radiologists were performing procedures without explicit privileges or CPSA approvals.
    He made 10 recommendations to Alberta Health Services and two recommendations to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta. These focused on improving privileging standards  and sharing information  on the licensing and credentialing of physicians.
    “Alberta Health Services has accepted all of Dr. Kendel’s recommendations, and has identified various initiatives to address them. Many of those initiatives are already in place,” said Dr. Chris Eagle, President and CEO of AHS. “Albertans can have every confidence in the work of our radiologists and pathologists.”

    The widow of a miner killed at the Atlas Coal Mine, after 50 years finally has closure with the unveiling of the Miners' Memorial.
    On a shivery Saturday afternoon in Drumheller, government representatives MP Kevin Sorenson, and Mayor Terry Yemen helped Bob Moffatt, representing miners and Randall Myers, representing families who lost loved ones, unveil the memorial in downtown Drumheller.
    For Olga Skrlik, the event was especially meaningful and it put to rest five decades of wishing to honour her late husband. She describes it as a dream come true.
    “It was pretty passionate for me to want this to happen,” she told The Mail.
    Olga’s husband John Myers was killed along with his brother in one of the most haunting accidents in Drumheller mining history. In 1962, John and brothers Robert (Babe) and Don were finishing up a shift 400 feet below the surface in Atlas #4. John and Babe got in the elevator cage to exit the mine. The elevator malfunctioned and the brakes did not hold. The 12-ton counterweight hurled to the ground and the cage smashed into the hoist structure instantly killing the two brothers.
    The tragedy left a mourning family with two young sons in its wake. They were with their mother at the Memorial unveiling. Olga was motivated from early on to make a monument to her husband and brother-in-law.
    “It wasn’t right off because I still hadn’t found my footing, but I got thinking and I felt ‘those boys deserve something for the horrible way they were killed,’ but I didn’t know where to start,” said Olga.
    She began her quest trying to get in touch with someone who could help, but over the years she did not make any progress. That was until about four years ago when she had a conversation with Linda Digby at the Atlas.
    She told Linda that before she dies she would like to see a memorial to those two. The more they talked the project grew to building a monument to all miners who died in the mines.
    Ernest Hlady had identified about 140 miners who had died in Drumheller mines. Volunteer researchers came up with more than 200 in all to be included on the memorial. It was from this research that after 50 years Olga could finally put to rest this tragedy.
    “I had still not gotten over what had happened. It wasn’t until we did some research. We went to the archives in Edmonton and went through all the books and whatever we could find. I was amazed at how many miners were killed and how they met their deaths,” she said.
    While many men lost their lives in terrible ways, to her, not many were as horrible as how her husband met his demise. She never saw her husband after he died.
    “For me there was no closure,” she said. “I wanted especially to do this for my boys because they never knew their father and this way they can tell their grandchildren and can say ‘this is your grandfather’s name’… this is what I was striving for, something for the boys,” she said.