Latest news with #PrimaryCareAlberta
Calgary Herald
15-05-2025
- Health
- Calgary Herald
Alberta government cites 19 bills as spring sitting ends in shadow of talk on tariffs, separation vote
Article content Alberta MLAs rose in the wee hours of Thursday morning to mark the end of the legislature's spring sitting, which saw the government pass 19 pieces of legislation but was also overshadowed by allegations of corruption related to health-care procurement that prompted the resignation of a cabinet member, a response to American tariffs, and the potential of an independence referendum. Article content Article content Article content Speaking with reporters at the legislature on Thursday, government house leader Joseph Schow pointed to the bills that had been put into law over the past weeks and said the government would take stock of its priorities over the summer. Article content Article content 'Our government has always been and will continue to be unapologetic in our fight to protect and promote a strong and sovereign Alberta within a united Canada, because we are relentless in our work to create a brighter future for Albertans,' he said. Article content 'We're going to take the summer to go back to our constituents and the people that hired us to do this job, and listen to them, hear what they have to say.' Article content Among the bills passed since the sitting began on Feb. 25 was legislation formalizing the overhaul of auto insurance rules, taking a further step towards a provincial police force, eliminating municipal codes of conduct, and changing how justice system non-profits are funded. Article content Major pieces of legislation were left for closer to the end of the sitting. Those include the Compassionate Intervention Act, which would allow for adults and youth to be placed into involuntary addiction treatment if they are deemed to likely cause significant harm to themselves or others. Article content Article content It also includes Bill 55, which moves public health roles from Alberta Health Services (AHS) to Primary Care Alberta, and Bill 54, which drew attention for lowering the bar for a potential citizen-led separation vote while also reintroducing union and corporate campaign contributions. Article content Article content Bill 54 prompted a backlash from First Nations and led the government to introduce some last-minute amendments late Wednesday. Article content In February, the government faced questions raised in the statement of claim by former AHS head Athana Mentzelopoulos about health-care procurement, with those allegations being the main subject of many question periods throughout the sitting. Article content And the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and the potential impact on Alberta's economy was also at the forefront of legislative debates, most notably around the provincial budget tabled in February that delivered the government's long-promised tax cut but also forecast a $5.2-billion deficit.
Epoch Times
03-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
Alberta Moves to Enable Final Steps in Health-Care Overhaul
The Alberta government has introduced legislative amendments that, if passed, would enable the final phase of a health-care restructuring process that began in 2023 and which officials say will improve service delivery and oversight. Bill 55, the Health Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, was Speaking at a May 1 The province has been working on a health-care overhaul All of the new agencies The new model was shaped through province-wide public engagement sessions, where Albertans and health-care workers shared their views on 'what a refocused health-care system looks like to them,' LaGrange said. The health-care restructuring won't disrupt delivery, the province said, adding there will be no job losses or changes to collective bargaining processes. Amendments Bill 55 amends the Public Health Act to transfer functions such as policy development, as well as public health inspections and surveillance, from AHS to the health ministry. Related Stories 4/16/2025 4/22/2025 Changes to the act would also transfer front-line public health duties, including communicable disease control, immunizations, and health promotion, from AHS to Primary Care Alberta. In addition, the province's medical officers of health would move into the office of the chief medical officer of health. The bill also amends the Health Information Act to grant the ministry of seniors, community and social services 'further powers,' including the collection, use, and disclosure of health information deemed necessary for its role as the sector ministry for continuing care, the province said. This ministry will be in charge of Assisted Living Alberta. The province also proposes changes to the Protection of Persons in Care Act, saying it 'takes all allegations of abuse in publicly funded care facilities seriously.' The changes would provide additional capacity to investigate abuse allegations, particularly those involving adult patients. Another proposed change would repeal certain sections of the Hospitals Act and incorporate elements of it into the Provincial Health Agencies Act, with the aim of streamlining health system governance under a single statute. Officials said the Hospitals Act is 'outdated legislation,' and that the changes won't impact quality of care in hospitals. Health reform has been a key part of Premier Danielle Smith's agenda. She has previously said she is not satisfied with the state of health care in the province. 'It's no secret I have been unhappy with the level and quality of service delivered by AHS and in the inability of AHS to deliver quality and timely healthcare to Albertans,' she said in a Feb. 8 social media 'I will continue to relentlessly push forward to make improvements. Although that has required difficult decisions and major change, I do not accept the current results.' As part of recent changes to the health system, the province announced last month a shift to an ' The change, the premier said, was aimed at increasing accountability and encouraging competition among medical centres while decreasing wait times. Meanwhile, the Opposition NDP has argued the change is a further step toward privatizing health care.
Hamilton Spectator
02-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
Province introduces final-stages bill for health care remodel
The province of Alberta has introduced Bill 55, which would advance some of the final pieces of work to be done in refocusing the health-care system. The Bill, also known as the Health Statutes Amendment Act, addresses outstanding policy items, transfers services from Alberta Health Services to Primary Care Alberta and 'brings clarity to public health's role in the refocused system,' said the province. Amendments are proposed to the Provincial Health Agencies Act, Hospitals Act, Protection of Persons in Care Act, Health Information Act and the Public Health Act. Primary Care Alberta will oversee front-line public health services, such as communicable disease control, immunizations, newborn screening and health promotion. Other services, such as policy development, public health inspections and surveillance will be moved to Alberta Health. Alberta's government assured residents there will be no disruption to health delivery in the province during the transition, and no front-line job losses. 'Promoting and protecting the health of individuals, families and communities is foundational to Primary Care Alberta's commitment to bringing the right care to patients where they are,' said Kim Simmonds, president and CEO, Primary Care Alberta. 'I look forward to welcoming our front-line public health providers to the Primary Care Alberta team and working with these dedicated professionals to build a strong, unified health care system that improves health outcomes for all those who call Alberta home.' Among the amendments are also language changes, such as consolidating all hospital types into the term 'approved hospital' and other changes intended to better reflect the reality of Alberta's health-care systems. 'The new health shared services entity, which supports all four health services sectors, will provide oversight for health foundations in the refocused system. This is a natural fit for health foundations, as they work across all sectors. Legislation will also establish a clearer connection between health foundations and the communities they serve,' says the province. The bill would also amend the Health Information Act to give more power to the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services to fulfil its role as the sector ministry for continuing care by enabling it to collect, use and disclose health information as necessary for the work of overseeing all continuing care, including Assisted Living Alberta. Sections of the Hospitals Act would also be repealed. These sections, says the province, are outdated and do not reflect 'current acute-care system governance or the introduction of new governance structures and ministerial roles.' 'A year and a half in, and we are in the final stages of refocusing Alberta's health-care system. The proposed changes will help us continue to improve the health-care system for all Albertans,' said Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Health.
CBC
02-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
New bill would concentrate medical officers of health under Alberta government control
A new bill continuing the reorganization of Alberta's health system has some government critics worried that all public health leaders will report to politicians. The Health Statutes Amendment Act or Bill 55, would continue a redistribution of responsibilities and health-care workers started last year by moving all public health functions out of Alberta Health Services (AHS). Medical officers of health and public health inspectors currently working for AHS would become government health employees, should the bill pass. Front-line programs such as newborn screenings, communicable disease control, well-baby clinics, routine immunizations, and health prevention and promotion programs would move to a new agency, Primary Care Alberta. "We're really going to take a more concerted effort to make sure that we have more concentration on public health, in terms of, how do we do more preventative and information sharing across the whole province," Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said at a news conference Thursday. Health officials did not know how many employees would be switching employers as a result of the proposal. The government would negotiate agreements with affected workers in the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, United Nurses of Alberta and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. Bill 55 also proposes numerous housekeeping changes to support the divvying up of health services into five new agencies, including a shared services organization to handle human resources and information technology. Risk of scientists beholden to politics Dr. James Talbot, a former Alberta chief medical officer of health (CMOH) and adjunct public health professor at the University of Alberta, says currently, the provincial CMOH and deputy officers have to "walk that tightrope" between politicians' demands and what evidence says would best protect communities. "It's a step backwards," Talbot said of moving other medical officers of health into the ministry — should they choose to transfer. "I don't think this government is particularly trusted by people who work in public health to uphold the values that are important to public health, starting off with the importance of science to guide decisions." In an interview, Talbot questioned whether medical officers of health will be guided by evidence or forced to respond to politicians who may be reluctant to compromise individual freedoms for collective safety. Medical officers of health may also be reluctant to be employed by a government that platforms people with fringe views, he said. NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said she worries the province may lose some of the experts now working as medical officers of health for AHS. "There is definitely a culture of fear and control in the public service right now," Hoffman told reporters at the legislature. "Telling these folks who've had more independence that now they report up through the deputy to the premier, I think is not the right culture for folks who are supposed to be giving advice based on evidence, and not based off somebody's political ideology, ambition or interference." Health minister says information sharing will improve In the news conference Friday, LaGrange said the proposed changes are informed by dozens of feedback sessions health officials held with members of the public, including health-care workers, across the province. "A major topic of discussion was how to position public health within the refocused system to sustain its critical functions and enhance consistency and coordination," LaGrange said. LaGrange characterised the change as administrative, saying it will streamline operations because medical officers of health already report to the CMOH. Hoffman, who was the NDP health minister from 2015 to 2019, disagrees, saying the officers share information with their provincial counterpart, but do not report to them. Loran Hardcastle, a University of Calgary health law professor, said the further concentration of control over public health within the provincial government is likely to concern many people. She said it comes on the heels of a 2023 bill that put final decisions during public health emergencies in politicians' hands, not the CMOH. "Many people would point to the government's silence on the measles outbreak as sort of evidence that the government is more concerned about politics and appeasing voters, and pandering to the voting base than it is about public health," Hardcastle said. On Thursday, LaGrange also defended her government's response to rising numbers of people contracting measles, saying the 193 cases reported to Alberta Health so far this year are in clusters, and not a provincial outbreak. Alberta's former CMOH, Dr. Mark Joffe, told doctors in a webinar last week that the spread of measles in Alberta is a "failure of leadership," as some vulnerable people do not know it is preventable.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Alberta seeks to move public health to Primary Care Alberta from AHS
Alberta has tabled another suite of amendments as it pushes forward with refocusing the health care system. Bill 55 — the Health Statutes Amendment Act 2025 — if passed would transfer front-line public health services out of Alberta Health Services (AHS) to Primary Care Alberta and move public health inspections to Alberta Health. Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said at a news conference on Thursday the decision to move public health to Primary Care Alberta is to allow AHS to focus on delivering acute care services. 'Public health transcends all of the agencies,' LaGrange said. 'The policy side needs to reside within government.' The province passed two pieces of legislation in spring and fall 2024 to stand up the four new provincial health agencies and transition AHS from the province's sole regional health authority to an acute care service provider. Front-line public health services moving to Primary Care Alberta include newborn screening, immunizations, communicable disease control and health promotion. Under the proposed amendments, strategic direction and policy development, public health inspections and surveillance, and medical officers of health would move to Alberta Health. 'It doesn't make sense to have the medical officers of health just within Alberta Health Services, they have to take on that broader role of making sure that they can address public health issues across the whole health care continuum and they currently report up to the chief medical officer of health. It's just now physically they will be with the chief medical officer of health,' LaGrange said. Alberta NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said the bill is 'further evidence' that the premier is focused on 'creating chaos' rather than hiring more health care staff. She added moving staff from public health into the department will end up costing Alberta. 'Many of these folks have been leaders in our communities for years and have intentionally chosen not to work within government. Now saying that they have to report to the chief medical officer of health, who reports to the deputy minister, who reports to the minister who reports to the premier — that isn't what most of them signed up for,' Hoffman said. The province said as the refocusing progresses, no public health functions and activities will be disrupted, there will be no front-line job losses and the collective bargaining process will be 'respected' moving forward. When asked what will happen to unions affected by the changes, LaGrange said the province will continue to connect and have discussions with affected health care providers and practitioners. 'There's also a choice for the individuals who are moving. They can choose to move or not move. That happened in Recovery Alberta (and) in other moves as well,' LaGrange said. In a statement from the province, it said staff transferring to Primary Care Alberta or the ministry will not be required to change unions and their current collective agreements will remain in place. However, unions affected by staff transitioning from AHS to the Government of Alberta will then work with the government to negotiate an agreement. Under the health care refocusing, the Ministry of Seniors, Community and Social Services will be overseeing continuing care, including assisted living. In fall 2024, amendments to the Health Information Act designated the ministry as a custodian, enabling it to access information. Officials said proposed amendments in Bill 55 are needed to further enable the ministry to collect, use and disclose necessary information to support the minister's mandate as a sector minister for continuing care. The legislation would also make amendments to the Protection of Persons in Care Act to allow the director to delegate some or all of their authority to an employee in the department of health. Officials said the current act only allows the director to make decisions on allegations of abuse which creates a bottleneck, contributing to a backlog. The province said the amendments would allow for quicker decisions to be made and prevent future backlogs. According to the province, as of March 21, the backlog has been reduced by 88 per cent to 92 cases from 766 cases. ctran@ @kccindytran Alberta plans to invest $330 million over three years towards rural health projects Historic $4M donation fast-track new family medicine clinic in southeast Edmonton Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know —add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun
