Alberta NDP MLA Sarah Hoffman (Edmonton-Glenora) said the government has a long record of attacking public healthcare and pushing a private, American-style version and is at it again. So far, Hoffman said the Alberta government cancelled the South Edmonton Hospital, chased doctors out of the province, and stood by as rural emergency departments closed. “Now they’re pushing private healthcare,” said Hoffman in a Wednesday speech during Question Period in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. “The website for SMG [Medical Complex] says it can double your cash investment and offers private luxury accommodations if you can afford it.” She said most Albertans want a public doctor and an open emergency department. Rather than deliver on public healthcare, she asked why the Alberta government was pushing more private healthcare. However, LaGrange said Hoffman’s comments were far from the truth. “In fact Mr. Speaker, we are continuing to make sure that we are increasing the number of surgeries that we are doing in Alberta,” said LaGrange. “In fact, we are on track to do over 310,000 surgeries — many more than what was done under the previous NDP government at one point in time.” While Hoffman wants to speak about wait times, LaGrange said she cannot speak to them, as they went up under her. She added it continues to attract doctors to Alberta and will continue to do so. In what sounded like a joke, Hoffman said a cabinet minister, parliamentary secretary, and MLA walk into a board room. “It sounds like a setup to a really bad joke, but it’s no laughing matter, Mr. Speaker,” she said. “They all put their reputations on the line for financial gains, with ‘pay out of pocket day surgeries for knee, hip, cataracts, insurance claims, indigenous populations, and international residents with the potential to double your investment or more.’” Last week, LaGrange said she believed in the Canada Health Act. Hoffman questioned if she will tell her colleagues to stop pushing private, American-style healthcare by voicing support for the SMG or were her words a joke. LaGrange said Hoffman continues to misinform people. “We will continue to make sure that we bring more doctors to this province,” she said. “In fact, Mr. Speaker, when I started in June of 2023, we had roughly 10,500 doctors.” Now she said Alberta has 12,100 doctors. While the Alberta NDP has made it seem like new doctors are languishing on registration waitlists, she confirmed they are working. The budget for physicians in Alberta is almost $7 billion. If it was a ministry, it would be the third largest in the Alberta government. When one-fifth of Albertans do not have a family doctor, Hoffman said LaGrange is proud of paying more. “And instead of focusing on opening closed emergency rooms in Boyle, Drayton [Valley], Hinton, and Edson, where the parliamentary secretary for rural health actually represents, surely the secretary knows Albertans want a family doctor and emergency room opened,” she said. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith promised she would sign the contract with family doctors 197 days ago. LaGrange said wait until the summer. Once summer passed, she said fall and is now going with April. Hoffman called on her to answer why Alberta rural health parliamentary secretary Martin Long shilled for private, American-style healthcare. When Hoffman was health minister, LaGrange asked why she did not work for Albertans and make life better instead of worse. “Mr. Speaker, under her watch, cataract surgeries soared,” she said. She said cataract surgery wait times went from 10.6 weeks to 16.9 weeks. At a time when the NDP drove out hundreds of thousands of people, she said there were fewer doctors and longer wait times. In addition to cataract surgery wait times, she pointed out those for hip replacement surgeries went from 13.1 weeks to 18.9 weeks. She said shame on the NDP. The Alberta NDP said in 2022 Smith is giving a preview of her plans to impose fees, premiums, deductibles, and other new out-of-pocket costs on families who need basic healthcare. .Alberta NDP claims Smith imposing health care fees, premier's office says it's not true.The NDP made reference to a 2021 video, where she appeared as a guest on Business Insider to promote a policy paper she had written for the University of Calgary School of Public Policy called Alberta’s Key Challenges and Opportunities.“But a regular checkup to your doctor, does that really have to be something that is covered 100% by the government or should that be paid for under your health spending account?” she said.
