In May 2012, Jim Prentice joined the Board of Coril Holdings Ltd. Coril is a Calgary-based private investment company that owns Inliv, a big medical clinic in Calgary which aggressively markets a product called "Total Health Management," at a cost of $4,495 a year.

Friends of Medicare welcomes new AHS CEO Vicki Kaminski. Kaminski is no stranger to the challenges of working in complex health care systems.  In 2009, when she became the head of the very troubled Eastern Health Authority Labrador and Newfoundland (EHALN), it was still reeling from the scandal-related to problems with breast screening from 1997 and 2005.  Many credit Kaminski with restoring the public's faith in the Newfoundland and Labrador health care system.

The $18.3 billion going to this year's Ministry of Health operational budget, which includes $10.7 billion going to the Alberta Health Services base operating grant, when considering population and inflation growth, means the government is cutting health care spending per person. The cuts include a $26 million cut to acute care services.

Sandra Azocar, Executive Director of Friends of Medicare, made the following statement today following the Alberta government's Throne Speech:

The documents released yesterday by the Alberta Federation of Labour further highlight the Alberta government's failure to protect and expand our public health care system.

December 11, 2013
EDMONTON

Alberta Health Services released a Request for Proposals (RFP) today for laboratory services in the Edmonton Zone. The RFP follows an AHS announcement made in September that it would be consolidating nearly all of Edmonton's lab services into a single facility which will be run by a single for-profit corporation.

Public Interest Alberta and Friends of Medicare have released a video of former Associate Minister of Seniors George VanderBurg responding to concerns raised about seniors care at a forum in Whitecourt on November 13th, 2013.

Friends of Medicare has learned that three multinational corporations have been mentioned to provide laboratory services for AHS in the Edmonton Zone. The three corporations short-listed in the Request for Proposals (RFP) are Laboratory Corp of America Holdings, Quest Diagnostic Inc., and CML Health Care, which recently received $1.22 billion friendly takeover offer from LifeLabs Medical.

Friends of Medicare  has learned  that Revera Inc., one of the 13 contracted agencies will be giving up ½ of their newly awarded  Home Care contract, as they are not able to provide the staffing necessary to service Home Care recepients  in  the Southwest area of Edmonton.