UCP members will vote this weekend at the party's Annual General Meeting on a course they'd like to see the government plot on the future of Alberta Health Services (AHS.)One resolution up for vote suggests the AHS “Sunshine List” of management staff earning more than $140,000 a year should be reduced from more than 900 to 200.The resolution said most of the positions should be abolished with the savings going toward nurses and family physicians.If approved, the resolution would say AHS should increase funding to preventative health care, rather than reactive medical treatments, through actively funding mental health, stomach health, spiritual health, and promoting/subsidizing outdoor and physical programs.The resolution claims Alberta has the most expensive, yet least efficient health system within Canada, making the province one of the worst universal health care systems in the developed world. "This is not due to funding, but rather to allocating funding to bureaucrats, and managers, who add very little in the way of productivity," the resolution states.A recent report published by the OECD showed the AHS had 10 times as many administrators per capita than the most efficient universal health care systems.The document stated the province needs more health providers and less managers, with the lack of nurses, family physicians, and other healthcare practitioners meaning Albertans wait longer for health services than the majority of the developed world, whilst paying more in taxes. More than 600 Alberta nurses made it onto the province’s Sunshine List.In fact, one nurse took home more than $240,000 a year, according to documents obtained by the CTF.“Nurses provide an important service for Albertans, but premium pay provisions have gotten out of hand and that’s why more than 600 nurses are on the sunshine list,” said Terrazzano.“Most people rely on their salary for their income, but the highest paid registered nurse in Alberta received more than 60% of their income from inflated premium pay rates and benefits.”The UCP is holding its 2022 Annual General Meeting (AGM) this weekend where numerous resolutions will be heard, voted on, and potentially reworded.The resolutions are not binding on the government.The AGM will start at 5 p.m. on Friday and will feature a keynote address by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the River Cree Resort in Edmonton.
