Alberta health minister says hospital transfer plan isn't 'hard and fast'

Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health for Alberta, makes a health care announcement in Calgary on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Todd Korol.

Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says a plan to offload underperforming hospitals from Alberta Health Services to third-party operators is still up for discussion.

LaGrange says the province won't transfer hospital operations so long as Alberta Health Services can provide reliable, quality health care.

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"There's nothing hard and fast," LaGrange said Tuesday on the Shaye Ganam show on Corus radio in her first media comments on the plan since it was reported last week.

"They're coming back to me with a strategy on how they can actually do that, and the discussion is also around — if you are unable to do that, and if you are unable to provide the service that Albertans expect, particularly in our rural locations, do we need to look at another service provider?"

Last month, Premier Danielle Smith told a United Conservative Party audience in Drayton Valley, Alta., that she would look to transfer authority of some hospitals to other providers, such as Convenant Health, to create competition and fear.

The policy shift would be part of a bigger plan announced last year by Smith to dismantle Alberta Health Services (AHS), the provincial authority tasked with delivering front-line care.

LaGrange's office has not provided The Canadian Press with details about how underperformance might be measured or how staffing shortages commonly cited as the reason for temporary rural closures, including those at Covenant Health, might be addressed.

Press secretary Jessi Rampton reiterated Tuesday in a statement that the government wants "better results" and would continue to prioritize recruitment and retention of health workers.

LaGrange said impromptu emergency room closures have become more common since the COVID-19 pandemic, in part due to "doctor scheduling."

"We see it more on the AHS side, to tell you the truth," she told the radio show.

AHS operates more than 100 facilities across the province, while Covenant Health's website lists fewer than a dozen hospitals and rural health centres.

Organizations representing doctors and nurses in Alberta have expressed alarm over the plan, saying the UCP government needs to share its data and show why third-party providers might be better suited to run some facilities.

Alberta Medical Association president Dr. Paul Parks has said having multiple hospital authorities has already led to underperformance in the Edmonton zone and that competition among operators in a single-payer system would hurt efforts to recruit and retain key staff.

Parks and other critics have also said transferring hospital operations could limit access to some services not offered by Covenant Health and there are already barriers across the province based on where a person lives.

LaGrange's office has said it's exploring "all options" to make sure every Albertan can access the services they need and it has no intention to restrict access.

"There is no anticipated change to access women's reproductive health," LaGrange said on the radio show.

However, she didn't promise to safeguard existing services.

"There is lots of access right across the province," she said.

In Alberta, only clinics in Edmonton and Calgary provide surgical abortions.

A spokesperson for Covenant Health said in an email that it provides emergency pregnancy care and patients can access emergency contraception in cases of sexual assault.

"As faith-based providers in Alberta, we operate under agreements that acknowledge our right to operate according to our own ethics and beliefs," the email said.

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said last week that while Covenant does good work, he doubted the premier had considered the public concerns her plan would raise before she announced it to party members.

"I'm willing to bet that (Smith) just looked for someone she thought could run a hospital. She had some friends that worked there. She mentioned them, and no one had even pointed out to her that that could restrict access to reproductive health for women across Alberta," said Nenshi.

Covenant is also not funded to provide medical assistance in dying, which is available at AHS sites across the province, depending on whether there is an available practitioner.

LaGrange declined to offer details about how long the government has considered taking hospital authority away from AHS.

"This is a conversation that has been ongoing," she said about the delivery of health care.

"From the time I took office, it was very clear to me and to all Albertans that we need to do better," she said.