Today's announcement of the resignation of Alberta Health Services President and CEO Vickie Kaminski is a welcome step says Friends of Medicare.
"We have a new government but AHS had not changed," said Sandra Azocar, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare. "Until this new government deals effectively with the governance structure of our health care system we will not be able to focus on the real work of improving our health care to ensure that Albertans receive timely, quality, publicly funded and delivered health care."
"There are many challenges ahead for AHS, and we urge the Minister to take the time to seek a replacement who will share in the priorities that this Government was elected on," Azocar added. "Some government promises are yet to be finished, from creating 2,000 public long-term care beds, to ending PC privatization experiments and redirecting funds to publicly delivered care."
While Kaminski was hired on a three year term in March 2014 at an annual salary of $540,000, her departure today is one of many since AHS was formed in 2008.
"What we're hearing from patients and front line workers is that they want stability, but also real engagement as to what our health care system needs. We hope Kaminski's replacement means a move away from an often distant and confusing bureaucracy. Regardless of who is at the top or what structure AHS takes, stakeholder engagement will always be key."
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