There are some BIG changes coming to AHS and Albertans have thoughts
The Alberta government just announced some major changes to Alberta Health Services (AHS), and reactions are pouring in online.
AHS will undergo a systemic overhaul, ultimately decentralizing the healthcare organization and “refocusing” it into a streamlined role with a primary focus on acute and continuing care. The acute care provincial organization will oversee the delivery of hospital care, urgent care centres, cancer care, clinical operations, surgeries and medical services.
According to the government, the end goals are to reduce emergency and surgical wait times and emergency medical services response times and to bring better quality care across the province, including in rural areas.
Some of the more tangible commitments made in today’s announcement include a promise for every Albertan to have a family doctor or nurse practitioner, more hospital beds, and 10,000 new addiction treatment centres across the province.
Mixed reactions have been pouring in online from Albertans, ranging from enthusiasm towards the proposed AHS changes to suspicions around it being a move towards privatization.
Among the people reacting to the coming changes is Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley, who shared her thoughts in a public statement ahead of today’s announcement by the Alberta government.Ā
Rachel Notley just revealed leaked cabinet documents that show the UCP’s plan to chop apart #Alberta Health Services and then privatize the pieces, including our hospitals!
ā Christina Gray (@ChristinaNDP) November 7, 2023
Danielle Smith’s secret plan means more bureaucrats, less local decision making, & more privatization. š https://t.co/gYaKtmHNif
Notley shared that the documents had been leaked to the NDP ahead of time, as they received 35 pages of a cabinet presentation on the topic taken with a cellphone camera. They did not mince words in their critique of the approach, saying it is the government’s attempt to control the healthcare system.
“This plan to centralize control of health care in Danielle Smith’s office is a blueprint for chaos in our office and hospitals,” said Notley.
The leaked documents also showed an intention to sell off care homes.