'Not like health issues are going away': Experts hope Smith government listens to new top doctor

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith holds her first press conference in Edmonton, on Tuesday October 11, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Replacing Alberta's top doctor is just the tip of an iceberg of health-related items on Premier Danielle Smith's to-do list, a political scientist says.

On Monday, Smith completed a pledge made on her first day in office a month ago to replace the chief medical officer of health (CMOH), Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

Dr. Mark Joffe, an Alberta Health Services (AHS) vice president and Cancer Care Alberta medical director, was appointed interim CMOH. 

Hinshaw, a public health specialist trained in Alberta, was initially lauded universally for her calm delivery of information, but in successive COVID-19 waves, became widely criticized after the province cancelled nearly all health restrictions in the summer of 2021 for the "best summer ever."

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Political scientist Duane Bratt says Hinshaw was a "big lightning rod" of controversy in the province as she became the face of Alberta's response to the COVID-19.

The Mount Royal University professor sees Joffe as a stop-gap appointment while the province begins a search for the next CMOH.

"Firing people is a lot easier than hiring people," Bratt said, adding that a vetting and policy process has to be followed.

Under the Public Health Act, the province requires a CMOH.

Bratt characterized the new top doctor as an establishment choice since he is an Alberta Health Services executive and has been involved in health leadership for more than 25 years.

"Smith is a firm believer that the restrictions went too far," Bratt said. "It is striking that she is replacing Hinshaw with someone very similar and a senior executive at AHS, which Smith has also demonized."

With pediatric hospitals at or near capacity and a growing number of respiratory virus outbreaks at Alberta schools, Bratt says the CMOH will be playing a key role in guiding Alberta public health policy.

"It's not like health issues are going away," Bratt added. "There's like a dual track that's going on right now between the public statements of Smith, which are very fiery, versus what she is doing as far as government is concerned.

"We still don't know yet which side of that internal debate is going to prevail."

Dr. James Talbot, a former CMOH and University of Alberta adjunct professor in public health, believes Joffe's experience in infectious diseases will be helpful as the province grapples with influenza, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

He just hopes the government takes Joffe's advice.

"As long as he is allowed to follow the science and his best judgement, then I think…he will work out," Talbot told CTV News Edmonton.

"It's too important not to listen to the science," he added. "When you are CMOH, you make choices that can affect up to 4.3 million people, and you don't want that done on the basis of something that somebody saw on the web, or someone was told at a party."

As Joffe takes begins his new duties, the Official Opposition is concerned he is balancing his current portfolio at AHS in addition to being the province's top doctor while hospitals are "in chaos."

"Albertans deserve so much better," said David Shepherd, NDP health critic. "Albertans deserve strong, transparent leadership that supports science and will do everything possible to ease the crisis in our health-care system."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Saif Kaisar