Alberta’s opposition leader says Premier Danielle Smith should explain her plan to potentially hand control of underperforming hospitals to third parties.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi says Smith should also explain why she chose to quietly announce the new policy two weeks ago at a members-only United Conservative Party event without then talking about it to the general public.
Nenshi said in an interview Tuesday that the silence indicates the government is afraid the plan will be unpopular or “that they are making it up as they go.”
“This is no way to run a system with over 100,000 employees, do it at will, have no real plan and just spit out the next thing that comes to mind that you think will benefit the audience you are in you are in will please. front,” Nenshi said.
“It’s quite scary.”
The policy change would be part of a broader plan announced by Smith last year to dismantle Alberta Health Services, or AHS, the agency charged with delivering primary care.
Smith has sharply criticized the agency, accusing it of failing to rise to the challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. After taking office in 2022, she dismissed the board of directors.
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The province is replacing AHS with four agencies charged with overseeing specific areas of health care, allowing AHS to focus on acute care in hospitals.
However, on August 17, Smith told a United Conservative Party town hall in Drayton Valley, Alta., that the new AHS mandate may be further shortened.
Smith told the audience that her government plans to hand over the operation of underperforming hospitals to third parties.
“We are prepared to take away their authority to operate hospitals as well,” Smith said in video recordings of the meeting posted online.
“We need Alberta Health Services to focus on delivering the best care in the 106 facilities they operate for us. They’re distracted trying to take care of everything else, so we take away all their excuses.
“If our operator does not provide the services we need, we will take him back.
“The next phase is to see how many of the hospitals that AHS currently operates we can take back ownership of. We can’t do it for everyone,” Smith said.
Smith said the government already offers private surgical facilities and the services of faith-based public provider Covenant Health in an effort to create competition and “fear” among providers.
“If you’re dealing with a monopoly and they believe they can provide any type of care without consequences, then they’re going to continue to provide poor service,” she said.
Smith’s office declined to comment to the Canadian Press on Tuesday and referred questions to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange’s office.
LaGrange’s office declined to respond to emailed questions about how hospitals’ underperformance might be measured and how transferring authority could address staffing shortages.
In a statement, Andrea Smith, LaGrange’s press secretary, said the administration wants to see “better results” from AHS, especially in rural and remote communities where there are an increasing number of emergency department closures.
“The work to reorient Alberta’s health care system includes transitioning Alberta Health Services, over time, to focus on providing only acute care services,” she said, adding that AHS and Covenant Health both will still play a key role.
“Ensuring we have the right partner delivering these services is critical and we will continue to evaluate this on an ongoing basis.”
© 2024 The Canadian Press
