Alberta’s new primary care agency will launch a major overhaul of the health care system on November 1

The Alberta government continues to divide its provincial health authority, with the health minister saying the new agency responsible for primary care is expected to be operational by November 1.

Adriana LaGrange says Primary Care Alberta will work to improve access to healthcare providers such as primary care physicians and nurses, create new primary care models and increase access to after-hours care through virtual means.

She told a news conference Tuesday that Alberta Health Services (AHS) has not been able to focus solely on primary care because of its overarching responsibility for most of the health care system.

AHS currently oversees the delivery of everything from community care to acute care.

“We need to make sure that primary care is not lost or forgotten, which is why we have a dedicated primary care agency,” LaGrange said.

“We have the foundation for an excellent primary care system, especially because we have excellent primary care providers in Alberta. But we can and must do better.”

Her announcement comes as part of the provincial government’s plan to divide AHS into four new agencies. LaGrange has said splitting the agency would streamline health care because roles and responsibilities would be better defined.

After the transition, it is expected that AHS will be relegated to strict hospital care.

CEO of Primary Care Alberta appointed

Kim Simmonds, an epidemiologist and assistant deputy minister of strategic planning and performance for Alberta Health, was named the first chief executive of Primary Care Alberta.

She said primary care is the “foundation of the health care system.”

“It is the first point of contact Albertans have when they need health care, and both its strengths and weaknesses resonate throughout the system,” Simmonds said.

“My goal is that Albertans have an ongoing, connected, trusting relationship with a primary care provider, that they enter a health center where they do not have to tell their story over and over again, and that they receive timely and seamless care and other community services to support their overall health and well-being to support.”

LOOK | The AHS decentralization of the province continues:

Primary care separated from Alberta Health Services

The Alberta government is in the process of dividing the centralized Alberta Health Services into four specialized agencies. The latest sector to be launched is primary care – that’s your GPs and nurses. But will restructuring the system lead to more Albertans actually gaining access to primary care? This is reported by Jo Horwood of the CBC.

LaGrange said it is premature to say whether the transition from AHS to Primary Care Alberta would result in job losses.

She did not indicate how much money would be spent to create the new agency, but said the AHS budget includes funding for primary care.

“We’re looking at how we can fund this, but we’ll continue to make sure Dr. Simmonds has what she needs to get things set up,” LaGrange said.

New payment model not yet implemented

The province is moving ahead with the launch of Primary Care Alberta despite delays in the rollout of a new payment model for primary care physicians and rural generalists that the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) has been waiting for.

Dr. Shelley Duggan, the president of the AMA, believes primary care physicians across Alberta need the new payment model to stabilize their practices. Duggan says she’s not sure why it hasn’t been determined yet.

“Right now, there’s a whole group of primary care physicians wondering if they can keep the lights on month after month,” Duggan told CBC News on Tuesday.

“It will be difficult for them to get involved with the organization and understand what it will do if they themselves are not confident that they will remain open or be in the province in a few months.”

After the province a memorandum of understanding with the AMA last October, Alberta’s Health Minister declared in April that a new payment model would be in place this fall.

When asked during Tuesday’s press conference, LaGrange did not say when the province plans to announce the new payment model.

As for the province’s new primary care organization, Duggan says the AMA is trying to get a better sense of what it will look like in practice.

“What we’ve heard so far are things it’s not going to do. But I don’t think we’re entirely clear what it will do – whether it can help stabilize the economy. system, which will recruit more documents,” she said.

“We are trying to get that information and work with the government as best we can.”

Opposition comments

Opposition NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi told reporters in Lethbridge, Alta., on Tuesday. that he didn’t think the new agency would achieve the goals LaGrange set.

“The only difference it makes is that there’s a new CEO that needs to be paid, there’s a new layer of management that needs to be paid and all your doctors with Alberta Health Services email addresses will probably get new email addresses” , Nenshi said. .

“We have created a new organization, but the real decisions about funding and training will remain with the minister.”

When AHS is dismantled by the government, it is expected that two more organizations will be added responsible for hospital care and continuing care.

Another new agency, Recovery Alberta, took over mental health and addictions from AHS on September 1.