breadcrumb trail link
Political Opinion News Local News Columnist
The Alberta government has pledged to break down silos by creating four health agencies, each with a CEO: acute care, continuing care, primary care, and addictions and mental health.
Get updates from Calgary Herald's Don Braid straight to your inbox
Article author:
Don Blade – Calgary Herald
Published May 14, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • Reading time 3 minutes
Register for free here to save this article. Or sign in if you have an account.
Premier Daniel Smith and Health Minister Adriana Lagrange speak during a press conference at Foothills Medical Center in Calgary, Friday, May 3, 2024.Darren Makowiczuk/Postmedia
Article content
The push for a new health care system accelerated on Tuesday, with the passing of the UCP bill that allows Premier Daniel Smith to make many of his valuable reforms.
As details emerged, it became clear that this was the most disastrous change to health care in Alberta since rural areas were merged into Alberta Health Services in 2008.
Article content
Changes of this magnitude may take decades to work properly, and may not work at all. That's exactly what UCP says about AHS.
Advertisement 2
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
This content is only for subscribers
Subscribe today to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
One account gives you unlimited access to articles from across Canada, online. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition, that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from award results. -Award-winning journalist. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles such as the New York Times crossword.
Subscribe to unlock more articles
Subscribe today to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.
One account gives you unlimited access to articles from across Canada, online. Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition, that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from award results. -Award-winning journalist. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles such as the New York Times crossword.
Register/Sign in to unlock more articles
Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.
One account gives you access to articles across Canada. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles every month. Receive email updates from your favorite authors.
Sign in or create an account
or
Article content
Now, they're going in the opposite direction, preaching unity while creating what could be competing silos: four health agencies responsible for acute care, continuing care, primary care, and addictions and mental health, each with a top We are trying to build an organization with a manager.
It's the end of the good old AHS as the powerhouse of health care in Alberta. The shrunken colossus will retire to the hospital, which will be rebranded as Alberta Hospital Services by fall.
It was assumed that each of the four new government agencies would have a minister, but only Recovery Alberta will have a unique minister in Dan Williams.
Health Minister Adriana Lagrange will oversee three other as-yet-unnamed institutions and will also be responsible for the entire health system.
“I will be the minister of health oversight because I want to ensure that we have an integrated health system that does not fall into silos,” Lagrange told reporters. “And that's very, very important to me.”
“We are working together as one government,” Williams said. “This is not going to cause any rifts. In fact, this is an opportunity to work together to make sure we haven't missed anything and all ministers are at the table. What we're doing is officially stipulated by this law.
Midday news summary
Thank you for registering!
Article content
Advertisement 3
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
What they are also doing is ensuring complete political control over healthcare end-to-end. The days when the governing board could debate with the government are long gone.
There will continue to be such boards in each sector with members appointed by ministers, but no one expects democracy to break out in health care.
Mr. Lagrange expressed the dissatisfaction with AHS that we have often heard from the Prime Minister.
“The focus in 2008 was really to develop one regional health agency with an emphasis on acute care, but clearly Alberta Health Services is involved in so many areas outside of acute care. “We're also expanding our reach,” Lagrange said.
“The company oversees about 28 percent of the continuing care, but it holds all the contracts with all the other continuing care providers. It's really fragmented.
“Alberta Health Services has dabbled in primary care. It operates some clinics and has contracts with other clinics, but it's very fragmented. There's no clear accountability structure.
“So we need to ensure that Alberta Health Services focuses on what it does best: providing excellent acute care services.
Advertisement 4
This ad has not yet loaded, but article continues below.
Article content
“And we know that wasn't always the case.”
Alberta Health Services building in Calgary.post media file
In hospitals, clinics and care centres, the new law will result in large-scale movement of healthcare workers between employers.
“Approximately 10,000 front-line staff will be transferred to Recovery Alberta,” Williams said.
The shift of workers from AHS to new continuing care organizations and primary care will be even greater.
That doesn't mean everyone will change jobs. Rather, new management and a different agency as employer will take over.
Still, these are breathtaking changes that could cause widespread anxiety for more than 100,000 employees.
The government offers placating promises that union contracts, wages, union representation, and bargaining units will remain the same no matter which agency employs the workers. These “inheritance” rights, they say, will be absolute.
Behind it is a core belief that if smaller institutions focused on just one part of healthcare, they would produce better, more focused results.
But a walk through the hallways of an emergency ward or hospital reveals just how incredibly complex this system has become.
Will this reform work? UCP friends and foes alike can only hope so.
This is health care in Alberta as long as Daniel Smith is premier.
Don Blade's column appears regularly in the Herald.
X: @DonBraid
Article content
Share this article on your social networks
