The President and CEO of Alberta Health Services says he is sorry for the way he conducted himself in front of the media Friday afternoon after he emerged from a day-long meeting focused on developing new protocols to reduce emergency department wait times.
Stephen Duckett refused to answer any questions about over capacity issues and instead would only talk about the cookie he was eating, at one point shoving the snack in a reporter's face.
In a blog posted later that day, Duckett said it is unfortunate that the way handled himself eclipsed the strides made by the 93 health care professionals working to ease the crunch at Alberta hospitals.
Duckett wrote the following apology on his blog:
"On November 19, Alberta Health Services had a meeting of clinical and operational leaders to develop new protocols to reduce Emergency Department wait times. The meeting made great progress. That success has to some extent been overshadowed by my poor responses to the media afterwards, which I deeply regret and for which I apologize unreservedly. I certainly respect the media's right to ask timely questions in the public interest.
We had made a decision earlier that a senior physician would provide comments to the media after the session. There were other issues and questions arising that day. However, it has been my practice that because I am not an elected official, I do not respond to comments from elected officials. I should have stopped to make all this clear.
Most regrettably, I did not convey what I deeply feel, which is the greatest respect for the difficult challenges our health care providers face every day, and their innumerable achievements, and what those challenges and achievements mean for our patients and their families. When I got back to my desk I finalized and uploaded a blog which conveys my feelings in my words.
We are all striving to do our best, but I know I got it wrong this time. Please accept this apology."
By Saturday, the exchange with reporters garnered hundreds of YouTube hits and a firestorm of tweets.
Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky condemned Duckett's behaviour.
"It's very unfortunate when you hear comments like that which, in my view, are inappropriate given the seriousness of the situation that we're dealing with in the debate on emergency rooms," commented Zwozdesky.
The Liberals are calling for Duckett to resign saying the "dismissive and disrespectful" behaviour is not appropriate for a person in his position.
"I think he needs to leave. I think we need to find a new man for the job. I think he's lost the respect of the professionals in the system, lost the respect of many Albertans. This is not the way a CEO of the largest health operation in the country acts. I was shocked. I've never seen anything like this before," said Liberal leader Dr. David Swann.
With files from Jessica Earle, ctvedmonton.ca
