Health Minister Ron Liepert announced today that the Conservative
Government plans to merge the provinces nine regional health authority
boards with the Alberta Mental Health Board, Alberta Cancer Board and
Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC), creating a super
authority responsible for every aspect of medical care in the province.
“This is absolutely the wrong direction for our province to be moving
in,” said Canadian Union of Public Employees Alberta Division President
D’Arcy Lanovaz. “This is a big province, and response times are
challenging enough with the existing boards.”
“Merging into one super authority will create catastrophic bottlenecks for Albertans when they’re at their most vulnerable.”
The major problems right now in health care delivery are wait times for
patients and workloads for staff. The decision to create a super
authority fails to address either of those concerns
“The members of this board will be appointed, not elected” continued
Lanovaz. “What Albertans want and deserve is more accountability, and
this decision is a step backwards in this regard.”
On this front, CUPE has immediate concerns over the appointment of Ken Hughes as interim chair of this board.
“When someone from the insurance industry has been put in charge of a
public health board,” finished Lanovaz “It raises alarms about the
possibility of a move towards two-tiered healthcare in this province.”
For more information contact:
D’Arcy Lanovaz
– President
CUPE Alberta
(403) 861-5235
Audra
Williams -
Communications representative
CUPE
(780) 504-2837