Premier Smith to replace Dr. Hinshaw with 'team of public health advisors'

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she will replace Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw.

In her first press conference as premier, Smith told reporters she would seek "new advice on public health."

"I appreciate the work that Dr. Deena Hinshaw has done, but I think that we are in a new phase where we are now talking about treating coronavirus as endemic, as we do influenza," the premier said.

"(I will be) developing a new team of public health advisors."

Hinshaw became the province's top doctor when the Alberta NDP were in power. She issued hundreds of COVID-19 updates throughout the pandemic and advised government officials on key issues, such as restrictions and mask mandates.

Smith, a vocal critic of the government's pandemic decisions, is shaking things up at Alberta Health Services "very quickly."

She said vaccine mandates at AHS were an example of "poor management" that created staffing problems, and vowed to make changes to its management team before the end of the year.

"This is a management problem, it is not a problem with our frontline workers. Our frontline workers need to be supported," Smith said.

"What happens in a business when they fail to meet targets and they fail to meet direction, you change the management. And so that's what we are going to do. We are going to change the management."