New bill would concentrate medical officers of health under Alberta government control

Janet French · CBC News

· Posted: May 01, 2025 8:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

A caller measure continuing the reorganization of Alberta's wellness strategy has immoderate authorities critics disquieted that each nationalist wellness leaders volition study to politicians.

The Health Statutes Amendment Act oregon Bill 55, would proceed a redistribution of responsibilities and health-care workers started past year by moving each nationalist wellness functions retired of Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Medical officers of wellness and nationalist wellness inspectors presently moving for AHS would go authorities wellness employees, should the measure pass.

Front-line programs specified arsenic newborn screenings, communicable illness control, well-baby clinics, regular immunizations, and wellness prevention and promotion programs would determination to a caller agency, Primary Care Alberta.

"We're truly going to instrumentality a much concerted effort to marque definite that we person much attraction connected nationalist health, successful presumption of, however bash we bash much preventative and accusation sharing crossed the full province," Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said astatine a quality league Thursday.

Health officials did not cognize however galore employees would beryllium switching employers arsenic a effect of the proposal. The authorities would negociate agreements with affected workers successful the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, United Nurses of Alberta and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

Bill 55 besides proposes galore housekeeping changes to enactment the divvying up of wellness services into 5 caller agencies, including a shared services enactment to grip quality resources and accusation technology.

Risk of scientists beholden to politics

Dr. James Talbot, a erstwhile Alberta main aesculapian serviceman of wellness (CMOH) and adjunct nationalist wellness prof astatine the University of Alberta, says currently, the provincial CMOH and lawman officers person to "walk that tightrope" betwixt politicians' demands and what grounds says would champion support communities.

"It's a measurement backwards," Talbot said of moving different aesculapian officers of wellness into the ministry — should they take to transfer. "I don't deliberation this authorities is peculiarly trusted by radical who enactment successful nationalist wellness to uphold the values that are important to nationalist health, starting disconnected with the value of subject to usher decisions."

In an interview, Talbot questioned whether aesculapian officers of health will beryllium guided by grounds oregon forced to respond to politicians who whitethorn beryllium reluctant to compromise idiosyncratic freedoms for corporate safety. Medical officers of wellness whitethorn besides beryllium reluctant to beryllium employed by a authorities that platforms radical with fringe views, helium said. 

NDP wellness professional Sarah Hoffman said she worries the state whitethorn suffer immoderate of the experts present moving arsenic aesculapian officers of wellness for AHS.

"There is decidedly a civilization of fearfulness and power successful the nationalist work close now," Hoffman told reporters astatine the legislature. "Telling these folks who've had much independency that present they study up done the lawman to the premier, I deliberation is not the close civilization for folks who are expected to beryllium giving proposal based connected evidence, and not based disconnected somebody's governmental ideology, ambition oregon interference."

Health curate says accusation sharing volition improve

In the quality league Friday, LaGrange said the projected changes are informed by dozens of feedback sessions wellness officials held with members of the public, including health-care workers, crossed the province.

"A large taxable of treatment was however to presumption nationalist wellness wrong the refocused strategy to prolong its captious functions and heighten consistency and coordination," LaGrange said.

LaGrange characterised the alteration as administrative, saying it volition streamline operations because medical officers of wellness already study to the CMOH.

Hoffman, who was the NDP wellness curate from 2015 to 2019, disagrees, saying the officers stock accusation with their provincial counterpart, but bash not study to them.

Loran Hardcastle, a University of Calgary wellness instrumentality professor, said the further attraction of power implicit nationalist wellness wrong the provincial authorities is apt to interest galore people.

She said it comes connected the heels of a 2023 measure that enactment last decisions during public wellness emergencies successful politicians' hands, not the CMOH.

"Many radical would constituent to the government's soundlessness connected the measles outbreak arsenic benignant of grounds that the authorities is much acrophobic astir authorities and appeasing voters, and pandering to the voting basal than it is astir nationalist health," Hardcastle said.

On Thursday, LaGrange besides defended her government's effect to rising numbers of radical contracting measles, saying the 193 cases reported to Alberta Health truthful acold this twelvemonth are successful clusters, and not a provincial outbreak.

Alberta's erstwhile CMOH, Dr. Mark Joffe, told doctors successful a webinar past week that the dispersed of measles successful Alberta is simply a "failure of leadership," arsenic immoderate susceptible radical bash not cognize it is preventable.

Joffe stepped retired of the relation past period aft declining to renew his contract.