Dr. Verna Yiu has been released by Alberta Health Services a full 12 months in advance of her contract expiry date..“We are very grateful for Dr. Yiu’s tireless leadership through the worst days of the pandemic, and we thank her for her years of dedicated service and commitment to AHS and to Albertans,” said board Chair Gregory Turnbull, QC..“We have been planning for an orderly transition,” Turnbull said..“I have had the extraordinary privilege to lead Alberta Health Services for the past six-plus years,” said Yiu in a release..“I would like to thank all staff, physicians and volunteers for their steadfast care of Albertans and their ability to put patients and families first, particularly as we have navigated through the past two pandemic years.”.“I took on this role in 2016 because I saw an opportunity to further solidify culture, teamwork, and excellence within the organization. I believed that we could develop better relationships with our patients and families, and with Alberta communities. I am so proud and grateful for all AHS team members as well as our advisory groups and councils, and all the foundations who support AHS,” Yiu said..AHS said a search committee was formed “several months ago” to begin looking for Yiu’s replacement, but did not offer a specific reason for Yiu’s departure..Yiu’s departing salary was $677, 785..The AHS Board will appoint an interim AHS president and CEO as soon as possible to ensure the organization has continuity in leadership. The Board has already asked Mauro Chies, Vice President, Cancer Care Alberta and Clinical Support Services, to serve in the role of interim CEO on a temporary basis..Under Yiu’s AHS jurisdiction, Pastor James Coates, of Spruce Grove was jailed after he twice breached COVID-19 restrictions..On February 14, 2021, the RCMP along with AHS officials attended the GraceLife Church to assess compliance in relation to conditions issued to the pastor on February 7..At the time it was noted that Coates was not in compliance with the Public Health Order..Coates served more than a month in jail for holding packed services at his GraceLife Church outside Edmonton while COVID-19 restrictions strictly limited church attendee numbers..Once he was released after his first offence, services continued to be held at GraceLife until April 7 when Alberta Health Services and the RCMP moved in during a dawn raid, barricaded the church and fenced it off..Coates is not the only protester to have invited AHS’s ire under Yiu’s governance during the COVID-19 restrictions..For months early in 2021 Christopher Scott, proprietor of The Whistle Stop Cafe, Mirror, AB, had been a focal point of opposition to AHS’s COVID-19-related restrictions enforced against indoor and outdoor gatherings..In the spring of 2021, Scott’s battle came to a head when he was arrested and jailed after re-opening his café while under orders to remain closed..Scott filed a claim against the Crown, the CMOH, and AHS for alleged violation of his rights. He is currently on probation according to an update he gave to protesters in March 2022..When asked by the Western Standard on Monday if he had something to say about Yiu’s leaving the AHS, he said he was pleased to see her go..“I mean, I’m happy that she’s resigning in that position, for sure. The way she has managed the pandemic— it made Alberta the laughingstock of the world. Jailing pastors, chaining up restaurants, fencing off churches — it was absolutely ridiculous. All of those things were done. No science behind them, no justification, or evidence, no nothing, just a stroke of a pen from the chief medical officer of health. Arguably some of the most intrusive infringement on our rights and freedoms since the ’60s,” said Scott..He also had a message for the next permanent AHS CEO..“The public is watching. We’re working on continuing to pay attention to what’s going on with the service providers that our government contracts to work for our benefit. We’re paying attention and we’re watching, and we’re going to hold them accountable. Conversely, we’ll celebrate and encourage them when they do a good job,” Scott said..Prior to Yiu’s CEO position with AHS, she was vice-president, quality, and chief medical officer with the health service and is also a pediatric nephrologist and a professor of pediatrics in the faculty of medicine and dentistry at the University of Alberta..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,.abrown@westernstandardonline.com.,.Twitter: @WS_JournoAmanda
