Need for permanent chief medical officer of health 'dire,' says Alberta Medical Association

Alberta's health minister says the search for a permanent chief medical medical officer of health is in the early stages, prompting concerns about health leadership as the province continues to battle its worst measles outbreak in nearly three decades. 

The total number of confirmed cases since the outbreaks began in March surged to 210 on Friday. That's the highest case count since 1997, when 242 cases were reported.

The escalating case numbers come at a time when the province is without a permanent top doctor.

The provincial government appointed an interim chief medical officer of health after Dr. Mark Joffe opted not to renew his contract in mid-April. He had been in the role since November 2022.

Joffe left as calls grew for him to take to the podium and speak directly to Albertans about the measles outbreaks. At the time, doctors raised concerns about whether he was allowed to speak publicly on the matter.

The province has not yet found a permanent replacement.

"I think the need to get someone who has expertise in the role is dire," said Dr. Shelley Duggan, president of the Alberta Medical Association.

"It could be tricky. But I think it's important. There's lots of people trained in public health. We need to get somebody in Alberta. And we need to let them develop a campaign and work with their team to get the messaging out."

When asked by CBC News about the search for a replacement, Health Minister Adriana LaGrange did not say how much interest there is in the job. Nor did she say how many candidates have been interviewed.

"We're at the initial stages of the search," she said at a news conference on Thursday.

"We were quite hopeful that Dr. Joffe would have extended his contract. Since that hasn't happened, we are just at the initial stages of the search. And I'll keep you posted as we go along this road."

When it comes to concerns about how the province will handle its surging measles cases without a permanent CMOH in place, she said she's confident in the work of the public health teams.

"It's the local [medical officers of health] that are in the communities, that are on the ground working with those communities, that are most affected. They report up to the CMOH. So there's obviously a lot of interaction that happens."

LaGrange said measles immunizations have increased this year compared to last year due to the work of those teams.