![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
Nurses concerned about cuts, Alberta health minister hints at hirings after letters to union
Alberta's health minister said Tuesday she's "really confident" the province will be able to hire more front-line staff to augment the current health-care workforce.
Adrianna LaGrange's response to reporters came when she was asked at the legislature about letters the union representing Alberta's registered nurses received at the beginning of December from the province's two major health providers.
Both Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health, in their correspondence dated Dec. 1, told the United Nurses of Alberta to expect changes to staffing given the provincial government's plan to change how care is delivered.
LaGrange told reporters Tuesday at the legislature "front-line job protection is (her) No. 1 priority."
"What those letters indicated is, contractually, we have an obligation with the union to notify them if possibly some positions may shift to another organization, and that is possible in the future," LaGrange said.
"Right now, we haven't made any decisions whatsoever. I've been very clear with the front lines when I've spoken at my town halls ... With that being said, we are protecting the front lines and, in fact, I think we're going to grow the front lines."
A month ago, Premier Danielle Smith outlined extensive changes to the Alberta health-care system, including reorganizing AHS into four service-delivery units all reporting to LaGrange.
In a letter from Lee McEwen, the executive director of labour relations for AHS, to David Harrigan, UNA's director of labour relations, AHS expects to identify "positions that will be shifting" once its mandate becomes clear and anticipates "reductions in positions within UNA's AHS bargaining unit flowing from the movement of functions outside of the organization."
McEwen said in the letter AHS expects the focus of its "mandate going forward will be the delivery of acute care in the province."
AHS was created 15 years ago under the Ed Stelmach-led Progressive Conservative government through the amalgamation of the province's nine regional health authorities, the mental-health board, the cancer board and the alcohol-and-drug-abuse board.
In Covenant's letter from Monica Williams, its senior director of labour relations, to Harrigan, the health-care provider said it "will continue to consider all options available to meet our organizational needs through this process, including changes to staff mix and service redesign, contracting out, changes or repurposing of sites or relocating, reducing or ceasing the provision of services."
UNA said the letters mirror a statement it received four years ago from AHS, ahead of contract negotiations.
The union said the 2019 letter outlined an AHS plan to eliminate an estimated 500 full-time jobs for registered nurses jobs over three years.
“This kind of mixed messaging only makes it more difficult to retain the nurses already working in dangerously understaffed workplaces and makes it even harder to recruit new nurses to work in Alberta,” UNA President Heather Smith said Tuesday in a media release. “This is the opposite kind of signal that AHS should be sending to nurses and health-care workers right now.”
UNA says the messages from AHS and Covenant contradict what LaGrange told representatives at meetings.
LaGrange said Tuesday she disagrees with Smith's statement, saying she's been clear with UNA about potential changes given the new organizational structures for Alberta's health-care system.
"We really value our nurses and all of our health-care professionals, particularly the front-line professionals that we have, and we are going to be looking to grow our front lines," LaGrange said.
The letters come as the province faces health-care staffing shortages. According to AHS, there are more than 20 hospitals and health centres reporting service disruptions due to staff shortages.
Opposition leader Rachel Notley, when told by reporters Tuesday of LaGrange's comment regarding the government's contractual obligation to UNA, said the health minister's statement is "not correct."
"They used language in that letter that was exactly the same as the language they used in 2019," Notley said.
"They talk particularly about a reduction in the workforce as a result of the changes announced last month to restructure health care, and they also talked about an increase in contracting out or the elimination of certain services.
"You don't need to give notice of those things if you're not planning on doing them. You have a minister promising one thing, and you have health officials promising another."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6977430.1721929538!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
LIVE UPDATES Multiple homes, businesses 'lost' to wildfire in Jasper National Park: Parks Canada
Officials from Parks Canada and Jasper say "multiple structures, including a number of businesses and homes, in and around the town of Jasper, have been lost" to wildfire in Jasper National Park.
Alberta premier says a third, perhaps half, of all Jasper buildings destroyed by fire
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says early reports indicate a third and perhaps up to half of all buildings in the historic Rocky Mountain resort town of Jasper have been destroyed in a wildfire.
Prince William's 2023 salary revealed in new report
Newly released financial reports show that William, the Prince of Wales, drew a salary of $42.1 million last fiscal year, his first since inheriting the vast and lucrative Duchy of Cornwall.
Canada to bring home fewest Olympic medals since 2012, according to forecaster
Fewer Canadians are expected to reach the Paris podium than in the previous two Olympic Summer Games, a global data analytics company predicts.
Jennifer Aniston criticizes JD Vance for 'childless cat ladies' remarks: 'I pray that your daughter is fortunate enough to bear children'
Jennifer Aniston is criticizing JD Vance for comments he made in his past about women without children.
'Skibidi Toilet:' If you don't know what it is, you will
'Skibidi Toilet' is already an internet sensation and now its about to get even more exposure after the YouTube series is being developed for TV and film, according to a report by Variety.
NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.
French sprinter will wear a cap during Olympic opening ceremony after hijab dispute is resolved
French sprinter Sounkamba Sylla will be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics wearing a cap to cover her hair, an agreement reached with the French Olympic Committee after Sylla said she was barred because of her hijab.