Former health administrator Tony Dagnone says Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is "unhinged".Dagnone made the comments in an open letter to Albertans posted on Twitter a day after she dropped the axe firing the Alberta Health Services (AHS) Board of Directors.."The light of her unhinged public pronouncements the premier represents the bleakest of role models for women who aspire it's hard to be accepted in positions of influence and leadership," Dagnone said in the letter..On Thursday, Smith announced immediate actions to reform AHS which she claims will lead to faster EMS times, decreased emergency room wait times, and reduced surgical wait times for Albertans.."We need a health care system that meets our growing demand and to take action to improve access. And today we are taking steps to do just that," Smith said..READ MORE: Smith fires entire AHS board, brings in Cowell to whip health care into shape.As a first step in the AHS Reform Plan, Dr. John Cowell was appointed full-time official administrator and will replace the existing part-time board of directors..Cowell will report directly to the premier and minister of health..Dagnone was one of the board members fired, and said he wrote the letter to defend the valued 112,000 health care providers throughout the province who care for Albertans daily.."No health care provider in the AHS organizations should be subjected to the unfounded blame and shame vocalized by the Alberta premier," Dagnone said.."During my 30-year career in health care leadership in Saskatchewan and Ontario, I had the privilege to work with eight premiers who represented all major political parties. I never once felt the need to publicly criticize their actions or inactions. Never in my wildest imagination did I believe I would hear the dangerous rhetoric spewing from the lips of the Alberta disruptor premier.".Dagnone said he had an obligation to defend the organization that he has been proud to serve as a board member.."Clearly the premier has chosen to play her misguided followers who rant against science and academic medicine on their veiled guise of freedom," Dagnone said.."Her rep stance on COVID which I remind the premier was and is a public health issue, not a political punching bag. is nothing short of borderline dereliction when the lives of AHS staff and Albertans are at stake.".Dagnone then went on to take a political swing at Smith saying that she has ignored the grueling 30-month "best efforts" made by AHS staff.."If the current premier position vocalizing false conspiratorial and unfounded claims she will be responsible for putting health care providers and Albertans needlessly in harm's way. Her loose and corrosive words appear to satisfy her need for bizarre musings that can and will ultimately impact people's lives. People will die," Dagnone said..Dagnone then claimed that Smith is taking her nonsense to a new level by inviting a former Trump advisor who has been universally scorned for promoting "medical quackery" to speak to Alberta's health advisory group.."This is another sign of her noxious grudge against Alberta's medical professionals," Dagnone said..Dagnone then asked in the letter when the will cabinet confront and challenge the premier's "misguided thinking." He then blamed her for the health professionals leaving the province.."Why would any self-respecting graduate pursue health care vocation in a province led by an anti-science premier Mrs. Smith's allegation suggesting AHS manufacturing staffing storage displays her nativity of the hallucination challenges facing healthcare organizations globally," Dagnone said.."It is unforgiving for a female leader to set such a low standard.".The Western Standard reached out to Smith for comment, but one was not received.
