Alberta premier announces new health-care reorganization plan

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Alberta’s government has announced some big changes to the province’s Health Care System Premier Danielle Smith says she’s not satisfied with the current structure Smith along with several cabinet ministers laid out the health reorganization plan today here’s some of what she had to say starting today we’re creating an integrated provincial

Healthc care delivery system that concentrates on four priority areas Primary Care acute care continuing care and mental health and addiction we believe that by creating specialized organizations within one provincial system we will enable each organization to look after one area of Health Care only and avoid the scattered and

Uncoordinated approach of the more rigid centralized structure that exists now for more on this story we’ve reached the cbc’s Terry reath live from Edmonton so Terry what does all of this mean for patients well Andrew in the very short term it really doesn’t mean a whole lot

And and let me talk to you a bit about the situation in Alberta right now a fast growing Province 4.7 7 million people but if you want to get into a hospital this morning in Calgary or Edmonton you are looking at a 1.5 to 3.7 hour weight if you want to get a

Family doctor good luck with that so the Danielle Smith government has really blamed Alberta Health Services for creating this situation thus the changes that are coming through so here’s the aspirational part here is what they are hoping to do with the changes so for example with primary care that’s that’s

Your family doctor so they want everybody in the province to have access to primary care but that’s not going to necessarily mean a family doctor you could be talking to a pharmacist or to a nurse practitioner one of the big changes is in the approach to mental

Health and addictions now this is a real big hot button issue in Alberta right now and so they are setting up an entirely different department for uh mental health and addiction it’s going to be under a separate Ministry the hope is is that through getting people healthier and and dealing with addiction

Separately they won’t wind up in the emergency room same with primary care by keeping people healthy in the short term it’ll keep them out of the emergency room so that’s really what they’re trying to do here with these changes so Terry you know tell us more about what’s

Driving this change right now well I did mention Andrew that uh the Smith government really blames AHS for a lot of the situations in in healthc care right now uh so in a way this is Alberta Health Services the big super board that was created in 2008 getting its wings

Clipped will that work well we spoke with Dr Tom nosworthy he’s a guy who’s been around Alberta for a long time former president of the uh Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton and now a uh professor ameritus in in health policy at the University of Calgary here’s what I think that this is pretty

Shallow um way of basically undermining the AHS that now exists it has made steady progress towards better integration and now we believe or expected to believe that four separate organizations with separate Boards of governance is going to be more integrated I don’t think so so Andrew uh

Over the next year these changes will come into place as the pundits like to say the proof is in the pudding and the devil is in the details and we will be waiting for those Terry thank you the cbc’s Terry wath live in Edmonton

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Wednesday announced numerous structural changes that will alter how health services are delivered to Albertans. The changes will dismantle the single-service provider model and spread the responsibilities of the province’s health provider, Alberta Health Services (AHS), among a handful of new organizations.

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20 COMMENTS

  1. AHS Has too much overhead high paid administrators, the money could be used for more doctors and Nurses. Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are goo additions for general care, they can do the majority of what clinics see and that gives more access to quality health care as well as frees up doctors for the harder cases.

  2. After quitting D.O.T. 1965 enrolled in computer course at NAIT first job was M S I until Medicare took over 1968 and cried poor since I chose to find employment elsewhere MSI formed by doctors never left anyone without care forget President name Brandel vice president

  3. Somebody is trying to warm up to be Prime Minister. Wants out of CPP … now reorganizing health care … going full MAGA and joining Fu*ker Carlson on stage for a speaking event. That's what Canada needs … just become American and get over this fraternity, liberty, and equality bs. Empty platitudes are all you need.

  4. Ottawa ER wait times were 9 hours before covid. If anyone in my family had to go to the ER we would bring a backpack full of water and snacks because we knew we were going to be there all night. Wait times are terrible across Canada.

  5. More people means you have to spend more money for the medical system. I hope that means that people with mental health conditions or addiction it doesn't mean that these people will get subpar health care for their illness.

  6. What does she really want to go with, faith healing, voodoo, witchcraft? Their are problems with healthcare right across this country and it is mostly due to not training enough doctors and nurses and retaining healthcare professionals.

  7. Wow she is trying her best to destroy Alberta, first it was the pension now its health care, and now housing tax is going to sky rocket. What is she doing? How much is this plan going to cost tax payers?

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