Alberta premier says province plans to transfer some hospitals away from AHS

Alberta's premier says the province plans to lease new hospitals to Alberta Health Services with the option of transferring operations to another operator if it decides AHS isn't doing a good job. 

The plan was outlined by Danielle Smith in response to audience questions at a members-only United Conservative Party town hall in Drayton Valley on August 17.

CBC was not at the event but relied on two different videos of the event posted on social media by Alberta podcasts The Breakdown and The Lavigne Show.

Smith's government is currently breaking the provincial health authority into four separate organizations dealing with acute care, primary care, continuing care, and mental health and addictions

Alberta Health Services will remain responsible for running acute care. 

Smith told the crowd that her government is changing how hospitals are run. Instead of building hospitals and handing them over to AHS, the province is going to keep ownership of the building. 

"We will lease it to an operator," she said. "Now, why is that important? Because if our operator isn't performing the services we need them to, we're going to take it back."

Smith said the fear of losing a hospital to another provider will motivate AHS managers to do better. 

At first, the plan would only apply to newly built hospitals, but Smith suggested the province will consider taking back ownership of some existing hospitals as a next step. 

The premier's office declined to comment on the plan and directed questions to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange's office.

LaGrange's press secretary Andrea Smith said in a written statement, that "Alberta's government has been clear that we expect to see better results from Alberta Health Services, especially when it comes to providing acute care services in rural and remote communities  … We've raised these concerns with AHS and have asked them to develop strategies to address them."

The statement says "the work to refocus Alberta's health-care system includes transitioning Alberta Health Services, over time, to focus on delivering only acute care services."

"Alberta's government is committed to ensuring key health partnerships continue, providing Albertans with the health care they need when and where they need it," Andrea Smith wrote. "Ensuring we have the right partner delivering these services is critical and we will continue to evaluate this on an ongoing basis."

The proposal is alarming health care critics who say it won't ensure Albertans will get better health care.