Dr. John Cowell appoints temporary provisional lead to oversee EMS leadership
File photo of Athana Mentzelopoulos, Alberta's temporary provisional lead of EMS as of February 2023. (Source: Alberta.ca)
A temporary provisional lead of EMS has been appointed, a spokesperson for the Alberta government confirmed to CTV News Edmonton on Tuesday.
Athana Mentzelopoulos has been selected for the role by Dr. John Cowell, the official administrator of AHS.
The position is responsible for all leadership oversight of EMS, according to Alberta Health.
In a statement, Ministry of Health press secretary Scott Johnston said that Mentzelopoulos first joined AHS in late 2022 as an advisor to Dr. Cowell and was then appointed as provisional lead of EMS, secondary to her role in his office, effective Jan. 24.
"The EMS role was added to her responsibilities in January in order to provide additional management focus on improving EMS wait times and response times," said the statement.
Before advising Dr. Cowell, Mentzelopoulos was the deputy minister of Treasury Board and Finance for the province, according to Johnston.
In December, it was announced that former chief paramedic and senior provincial director of EMS Darren Sandbeck, would be departing from his role. His last day was reported to have been Jan. 9.
Johnston says that the temporary role of provisional lead of EMS, and that of the chief paramedic are different.
A new chief paramedic for EMS has not yet been publicly announced.
With files from CTV News Calgary's Jordan Kanygin
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