Friends of Medicare and Dr. Paul Parks will be in Cold Lake Thursday night for a public townhall focused on the future of Alberta’s health care system.

The event is part of the organization’s province-wide Urgent Conversations on Public Health Care tour and will be held May 14 at the Cold Lake Energy Centre boardroom, located at 7825 51 Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with the townhall beginning at 7 p.m.

Residents are invited to attend, share their experiences with the health care system and discuss concerns and possible solutions surrounding health care policy in Alberta.

Friends of Medicare Executive Director Chris Gallaway and Dr. Paul Parks, a Medicine Hat emergency physician and past president of the Alberta Medical Association, will both be available for comment ahead of the event.

Friends of Medicare has been advocating for public health care since 1979. The non-profit, non-partisan coalition includes seniors’ organizations, labour groups, faith and cultural organizations, physicians, patients and community groups from across Alberta and Canada.

The organization says it is focused on protecting the five principles of Medicare: comprehensive coverage, universality, accessibility, portability and public administration on a non-profit basis.

While health care issues are broad and complex, Friends of Medicare says its current priorities are centred around four main areas:

• Fighting privatization in health care
• Improving seniors care
• Implementing universal pharmacare
• Addressing the ongoing drug poisoning crisis

The event is free and open to the public. RSVPs are encouraged and media are welcome to attend.

More information can be found at friendsofmedicare.org/HealthCareColdLake.