Health spending accounts and staffing strategies part of Smith's health mandate letter

In a mandate letter to Health Minister Adriana LaGrange issued on Tuesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith laid out plans to add health-care professionals in underserved communities, improve EMS response times and support primary care in Alberta's health-care system.

"A primary focus of our government over the next four years will be to ensure Albertans have improved access to world-class health care when and where they need it," Smith wrote.

"To accomplish this task, you will need to demonstrate creativity, responsiveness to public concerns and a willingness to reform the management and structure of Alberta Health Services to better decentralize decision-making and resources to the front line and local communities."

LaGrange says she will look at ways to accomplish that objective.

"We know there are challenges and gaps addressing those," said LaGrange.

Alberta's NDP calls Smith’s letter "a bit laughable," stating it's an outline of all the UCP's failed health-care policies over the past four years.

"It's a bit laughable that she suddenly now wants to see more regional collaboration and empower local health-care workers and others," said health critic David Shepherd.

Among the instructions Smith laid out to LaGrange are a number of UCP platform commitments, such as adding obstetricians to communities such as Lethbridge and Fort Macleod, investing in midwifery services and developing more research into women's health.

Smith also wants LaGrange to remain within her government's pledge to ensure Albertans never need to pay to see their doctor or receive medical treatment – the UCP's Public Health Care Guarantee.

She also wants her health minister to take on some of the lingering issues facing Alberta health care.

Those include:

• Addressing "unacceptable" lab service delays;
• Cutting emergency room wait times;
• Decreasing surgical procedure backlogs;
• Improving EMS response times; and
• Providing improved care to Alberta's seniors.

Smith also suggests LaGrange should do all she can to reform the health-care system and "incentivize" regional innovation as a way to retain workers.

The letter also lays out some collaborations with other ministers toward shared goals:

• Ensure recovery and recovery capital of Albertans suffering from mental health and addictions "is a guiding policy" (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions);
• Explore the feasibility of a health spending account for Albertans (Minister of Technology and Innovation); and
• Assess federal medically assisted dying legislation amendments and recommend Alberta's regulation of this profession (Minister of Justice).

Health Sciences Association of Alberta president Mike Parker is pleased to see a swift change in direction from this government acknowledging long hospital wait times, lab delays and EMS response time, but is critical of a decentralized approach.

"I'm grateful that these priorities are being recognized. I'm very concerned when I see a destabilization of decentralized and alternative models," said Parker.

"That puts the uncertainty back into the workplace that our folks do not need right now."

LaGrange was officially sworn in as health minister on June 9.