EDMONTON — The 2025 provincial budget will be tabled in the legislature next Thursday, February 27th. Heading into the budget, the provincial government continues to roll out their expensive and chaotic restructuring of public health care in Alberta, while doubling-down on their failing privatization strategies.
“The ongoing short-staffing crisis continues to compromise the care Albertans are receiving in every part of our health care system. But instead of taking action to improve our public capacity and end workforce shortages, the UCP government’s only focus has been to drastically restructure health care administration,” said Chris Gallaway, executive director of Friends of Medicare. “What we need to see in next week’s budget is the government shifting to being laser focused on the frontline workforce, with a real plan to retain the skilled health care workers we have, while recruiting and training those we need to provide care to a growing province.”
Since being elected, the government has increasingly spent our public health care dollars to subsidize the growing profits of private entities throughout our health care system. They have relentlessly pursued an aggressive privatization agenda, including signing secretive contracts with for-profit health care providers to expand their role in our surgeries, labs, addictions care, food services, laundry, ambulance services and more.
“Every time the government announces another contract to a for-profit health care provider they promise it will bring down costs, improve quality, and shorten wait times for Albertans. Yet every time, the opposite has come true,” said Gallaway. “We need to start putting our focus and public funding where it will actually benefit patients. In next week’s budget, we need to see a plan to grow our capacity by spending our precious public dollars on meaningful investment in our public operating rooms and hospitals, especially in light of the very concerning ongoing allegations about surgical procurement.”
10 Things to watch for in Budget 2025
-
Calgary Cancer Centre
The government has yet to publicly share more information or plans for to get the new Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre fully operational. When will this brand new world class facility actually be fully open and serving Albertans?
-
Airdrie Health Care
Airdrie is by far the largest community in Alberta without a hospital. The province should be moving forward with plans for a full hospital, including an emergency department. Will the government instead fund their secretive contract to build a Private Urgent Care Centre in the community?
-
South Edmonton Hospital
The much-needed and long promised South Edmonton Hospital was cancelled in last year’s budget, even though we haven’t built a new hospital in Edmonton since 1988, and the city is hundreds of beds short. Will some version of this needed project make a return in this year’s project?
-
Red Deer Hospital
What will funding look like for the proposed Public-Private Partnership for the Red Deer Hospital project? Will there be firm timelines for completion of this much needed project?
-
Fort McMurray Private Proposal
Will there be public money for the proposal to build a giant private health care facility in Fort McMurray, a proposal whose proponent has concerning connections to the governing party and has been supported by many government MLAs
-
For-Profit Surgical Centres
Report after report after report have shown that the privatization of Alberta’s surgeries to for-profit facilities is costing us more, while ultimately reducing overall capacity. In spite of this the budget, for-profit private surgical contracts have grown exponentially in recent provincial budgets. As ongoing allegations about surgical procurement continue to unfold, will the government continue to grow this budget item?
-
Funding for Home Care
Despite the government repeatedly signalling their intention to shift Alberta’s continuing care services to move more care in-community, our home care system continues to suffer from chronic underinvestment. Tens of thousands of Albertans have called on the provincial government to fund and fix home care in the upcoming budget. Will they listen?
-
Long-Term Care Privatization
As publicly funded, privately operated long-term care corporations continue to pay out huge bonuses to shareholders while failing to deliver adequate care to residents, will we see further privatization of the remaining long-term care homes in Alberta? A proposal about restructuring was previously leaked in cabinet slides.
-
Severance Costs
In the 2023-2024 fiscal year alone, Alberta racked up $9.5-million in severance owed to various health care leadership appointees. Since then, frequent health care leadership changes and dismissals have continued. How much have we spent in this past fiscal year? How much more is to come?
-
De-listing of Services
Danielle Smith committed to public Medicare, repeatedly promising her government would not delist any future medical procedures from public funding. Yet earlier this month, the government made cuts that de-listed partial eye exams for seniors and children and other vision care services. Will any further services be de-listed from provincial coverage?
-30-