Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley shared documents which came into her possession about the United Conservative Party government’s healthcare reform proposals. “I'll be completely candid — they showed up in the mail,” tweeted Notley on Tuesday. “There are 35 pages of photos of a presentation to cabinet detailing the UCP’s scheme to rip apart Albertans’ public healthcare.”.Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday to release her plan. During this year's election, Smith vowed many times she would revamp Alberta Health Services (AHS). With this plan, Notley said it will concentrate control of healthcare in the Office of the Premier of Alberta. She called it “a blueprint for chaos in our clinics and hospitals.”She said the Alberta UCP members who cheered for more rural or local decision-making in healthcare at the Annual General Meeting are about to find out they have been betrayed. None of that is in the plans. .The agencies this plan creates are the Primary Care Organization, Acute Care Organization, Continuing Care Organization, Mental Health and Addictions Organization, Integration Council, Centre of Recovery Excellence, System Transformation Office, and Procurement and System Optimization Secretariat. What is not in the plan is more new doctors, nurses, paramedics, nurse practitioners, and licensed practical nurses. .On primary care, she said there is not a word about how to hire more doctors or keep the ones Alberta has. In fact, the Alberta government complained there are too many doctors. She admitted she has seen a few of these kinds of presentations. When she looks at these decks, she said she flips to the back and looks for the slide called risks. .The top risks identified were potential to fragment care delivery and risks of service disruption and failure. She said these are some massive risks. Fragmented care and service disruptions put people’s lives in danger..If the Alberta government follows through on this plan, she alleged healthcare will be sold off and privitized piece by piece. The only person who she said benefits from this is Smith, who is giving herself powers to reach into any part of healthcare and override medical professionals. While she does believe healthcare needs reform, she said it can be done through direct spending in frontline care and a massive recruitment and retention campaign. That is not what Smith wants to do. .Notley concluded by saying this is “an attempt to concentrate control of healthcare in the Premier’s Office.”“But what it will do is cause catastrophic chaos in our clinics, our hospitals, and for all Albertans,” she said.Smith and former Alberta health minister Jason Copping fired the entire AHS Board of Directors in 2022. READ MORE: Smith fires entire AHS board, brings in Cowell to whip health care into shapeShe announced immediate actions to reform AHS, which would lead to faster EMS times, decreased emergency room wait times, and reduced surgical wait times for Albertans.“We need a healthcare system that meets our growing demand and to take action to improve access,” she said. Smith could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
