Alberta Health Services (AHS) will be pausing its hiring process for new workers to deal with its budget deficit. “Alberta’s healthcare is in chaos because it is understaffed,” tweeted Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley on Thursday. “Now Danielle Smith has mandated a hiring freeze of critical staff in AHS.”.As AHS continues to manage an operating deficit for the 2023/2024 fiscal year, it said it was required to find additional cost savings. “Significant restrictions on non-clinical hirings were put in place January 2024 and have had an impact; however, additional measures are required to aggressively address our current deficit position before the end of the 2023/24 fiscal year,” it said. “Effective immediately until March 31, 2024, all recruitment of management and non-clinical support positions (unionized or non-unionized) is paused.” It said the level of approval to recruit is determined by the type of work performed by the position as defined by its department functional centre. CEO approval will be required for all senior leader management positions, all non-union positions (clinical, clinical support and non-clinical), and unionized positions doing non-clinical support work such as in planning, privacy and risk management. Senior operating officer (SOO) or equivalent approval will be needed to recruit unionized positions doing clinical and non-clinical support work. This includes work in areas such as ambulatory care, nursing inpatient care, community health, Emergency Medical Services, diagnostics and therapeutic services, clinical support and facilities support. Each Executive Leadership Team (ELT) leader will be provided with a list that identifies positions from their departments in their portfolio requiring these approvals. AHS said the same levels of approvals will apply to contracted and employee medical leaders. It added the purpose of this measure is to manage costs associated with the workforce. Postings for senior leader, management, non-union positions and union ones doing non-clinical support work will be cancelled. Any exceptions will require CEO approval. However, postings for union positions doing clinical and clinical support work can continue once SOO or equivalent approval is received. If offers have been made, hiring teams are expected to proceed with recruitment. If people receive approval to post, they have to add they were approved by the CEO or an SOO and put their names and the dates in the comment boxes. With acting roles, AHS said they should consult with ELT leaders. Given the need to manage expenses, it said consideration will be given to have the roles unfilled. “The appropriate levels of approval required in the new fiscal year will be determined and communicated before April 1, 2024,” it said. The Alberta government said in November it will reorient the healthcare system on Albertans to improve health outcomes for them and empower healthcare workers to deliver quality care. READ MORE: UPDATED: Alberta government to dismantle AHS, focus on more timely healthcare systems“Albertans deserve access to the healthcare they need when and where they need it,” said Smith. “Healthcare workers move mountains for their patients every day.”
