Alberta governor dismisses AHS board

EDMONTON – Alberta Prime Minister Daniel Smith (pictured) last week dismissed the state’s board of health officials, replacing members with a single administrator. For emergency rooms and surgeries.

Mr. Smith’s successful campaign to lead the United Conservative Party, which saw him named prime minister last month, included frequent attacks on the Alberta Health Service, the health authority. She has accused AHS of the state’s decision to impose pandemic restrictions, including business closures and vaccine mandates, and opposes both.

Additionally, she accuses her of failing to develop sufficient intensive care capacity, according to The Globe and Mail. It really interfered,” he said.

Alberta, like other provinces and territories, is struggling to fix a healthcare system hampered by understaffing and long wait times. This problem has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, exacerbated by the recent rise in influenza and other respiratory illnesses. RSV.

Mr. Smith appointed Dr. John Cowell as sole administrator of AHS. A retired health care worker, Dr. Cowell last served as administrator in 2013 after the previous Progressive Conservative government dismantled his then-AHS board.

At a press conference, the UCP government argued that controlling one person would speed up the pace of organizational change.

“I’m cautious, or rather cautious, I’m optimistic that we’ll see real results in 30 days, 90 days, six months,” Dr. Cowell said at a press conference. “Six months is definitely as long as it takes.” His first job, he said, was diagnosing problems in the health care system. He added that he would recruit two people to work with him.

Alberta’s Health Minister Jason Copping told reporters that the appointment of the administrator was a “temporary fix” and the government will resume the board at “an appropriate time”. Deborah Applis, one of his members on the 12-member board, resigned last month, saying she could not support Smith’s plan to overhaul the health care system and its organizational structure.

During the leadership campaign, Smith pledged to begin rethinking how hospitals are increasing their beds. She also promised that recommendations from the same audit team would show how to reduce AHS bureaucracy and delegate control of healthcare delivery to local decision makers.

A news release accompanying the overhaul announcement said Dr. Cowell would publicly report on progress within 90 days.

Smith also promised to hire a new CEO for AHS. Her predecessor as prime minister, former UCP her leader Jason Kenny, dismissed her former CEO, Dr. Verna Yiu, and appointed an interim successor.

Copping, Dr. Cowell, and Smith describe various ways to improve the health care system, such as quickly tracking ambulance movements in emergency rooms and increasing surgeries in underutilized hospitals. explained. However, their remarks lacked detail. The health minister said the government will increase next year’s health care budget by another $600 million.

Smith was unable to provide details when asked about progress she would like to see in the coming months. said there was a need. “It will be better than it is today,” she said.

Tony D’Agnone, one of the 11 board members who were dismissed, said in an interview that unless Dr. Cowell develops “the strength of God and the patience of Job,” he will not do much to reform the delivery of care. Said it wouldn’t work. Government involvement. He noted that Smith had been critical of public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, and said she had hurled “unfounded slander” at AHS.

D’Agnone acknowledged that AHS is not a perfect organization, but said its purpose has always been to care for the people of Alberta. He added that he has never felt the need to publicly criticize a political leader. But he said there are too many things at stake now.

Jennifer Jackson, a professor of nursing at the University of Calgary, said the government’s attempt to reinvent healthcare faces a key hurdle: staffing.

“Right now, we are short of enough staff to not only maintain the service, but to expand it,” she said, noting that there are currently thousands of nurse vacancies in the state. She said she does not trust the UCP’s ability to solve complex problems such as excessive wait times in emergency departments when it appears unwilling to implement simple public health measures.

“To take the pressure off the ER and reduce 911 response times and ER wait times, we need to significantly increase community services, home care, and prevention,” said Professor Jackson. “Given the government’s neglect of masking and hand sanitizing, this is the most basic step of the idea. I doubt it can distract people from emergency services.”