Editorial: Alberta better off with Covenant Health over AHS?

A positive new direction forward for healthcare reform in Alberta? Or just another Smith government shell game, as some critics suggest?

This week the Alberta government announced it would be transitioning more hospital and healthcare facility management away from AHS and toward other private providers such as Covenant Health.

The rationale behind the move is efficiency, according to the Smiith government. 

“When you're dealing with a monopoly,” said Premier Smith, referring to Alberta Health Services, “and they believe that they can deliver any type of care, and there are no consequences, they’re going to continue to deliver bad service. And competition is one option. That's why we're offering charter surgical centres and why we're offering Covenant.”

Critics were quick to pounce on the announcement, rightly calling out the fact that whether Alberta Health Services is providing the service or organizations like Covenant are, it all comes from the same pocket– Alberta taxpayers. And secondly, it is the Smith government’s own policies which determine how and where such money is spent, and it is the Smith government and its immediate successor of the same party, the Kenney government, that created the problem in the first place when it comes to the local doctor shortage in many rural areas.

However, that all being said, it’s hard to argue with the fact that AHS continues to under-serve many rural communities in particular, and something has to change on that front. Could bringing in Covenant Health really make it all that much worse? The Smith government certainly wants to seek an answer to that question, and experiment a little.

Those communities who continue to experience doctor shortages and periodic closures of local healthcare centres will likely give the Smith government a little leeway to see if different management could perhaps do a bit better job.

At this point, they could hardly do any worse.