Western Standard - October 16, 2024


Refocusing primary health care in Alberta

Topics
systemic racism in health care primary care accountability
Mentioned
Kim Simmons Sam Raich Graham Thompson Jonathan Bradley Recovery Alberta Jennifer Law Jane Finch Alana Smith Jack Fowle Lagrange Boisvert LaGrange Jordan
Unfit for action, how the Trudeau Liberals broke the armed forces Release the traitors names already!

Episode Stats


Length

35 minutes

Words per minute

152.52

Word count

5,394

Sentence count

180

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In this episode, Premier Rachel Notley announces the establishment of Primary Care Alberta, a provincial agency responsible for oversight, coordination and delivery of some primary care services in Alberta. Dr. Karilyn Simons is the new Chief Executive Officer of the agency, which will oversee the priority sectors of primary care, acute care, continuing care and mental health and addiction.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 who work tirelessly every day to care for them.
00:00:04.220 We believe the best way to get Albertans the health care they need and deserve
00:00:08.380 is by creating four fully integrated provincial health agencies
00:00:13.400 that will oversee the priority sectors of primary care, acute care,
00:00:19.180 continuing care, and mental health and addiction.
00:00:22.440 We have seen the stand-up of Recovery Alberta,
00:00:25.580 which is the mental health and addiction agency already,
00:00:28.520 and today I'm pleased to announce another milestone the stand-up of primary
00:00:33.980 care Alberta primary care Alberta will be the provincial health agency
00:00:39.280 responsible for the oversight coordination and delivery of some
00:00:43.960 primary health care services what this means for Albertans is that they will
00:00:49.740 finally have an agency that is dedicated to making sure their primary health care
00:00:54.460 needs are met as it is now we have the foundations for an excellent primary health care system
00:01:02.060 mostly because we have excellent primary care providers in alberta but it can and must be better
00:01:10.620 currently only one pardon me currently only four out of ten albertans report being able to get a
00:01:17.580 same or next day appointment with their primary health care provider we are also seeing that
00:01:23.900 Albertans are often unable to access interdisciplinary care such as linking up
00:01:28.780 dietitians or physiotherapists through their primary care provider because most
00:01:33.280 providers do not work in interprofessional teams in Alberta no one
00:01:39.660 organization or authority represents the needs of the primary health care
00:01:44.220 sector that means no one organization is currently accountable for primary
00:01:49.380 health care this must be addressed which is why we are setting up primary care alberta
00:01:56.260 today i'm also pleased to announce dr kim simmons as the new chief executive officer of primary care
00:02:04.100 alberta currently the assistant deputy minister of strategic planning and performance at alberta
00:02:10.020 health dr simmons brings a wealth of public and private sector experience to the role
00:02:15.380 and has extensive experience working with stakeholders across the health care system
00:02:21.780 she has experience working with clinicians and understands the need for data and evidence-based
00:02:27.460 decision making when it comes to delivering primary care services to albertans no matter
00:02:32.660 where they live dr simmons first task as ceo of primary care alberta is to make sure every
00:02:39.780 albertan has improved access to key primary care services which means more albertans will be
00:02:46.660 attached to a primary care provider which many which may be a family doctor or a nurse practitioner
00:02:54.100 but no one should be forced to seek primary health care in an emergency department or acute
00:02:58.980 care setting this work will introduce include introducing new models of primary care which
00:03:05.860 means supporting the formation of teams of primary care professionals to work together and provide
00:03:11.220 comprehensive health care to each alberton primary care alberta will also work to increase access to
00:03:18.100 after hours care including options for virtual and digital health where appropriate because health
00:03:24.500 issues don't just happen during business hours and i think we all know that and it will improve
00:03:30.340 access to provincial chronic disease programs to prevent people from falling through the cracks
00:03:35.140 and ensure albertans have the supports they need throughout their health care journey
00:03:41.700 primary care alberta was created based on extensive engagement with primary care providers
00:03:47.700 as part of maps the modernizing alberta's primary health care system work that went on
00:03:53.460 and is still underway setting up an agency devoted to primary care is a made in alberta solution
00:04:00.740 we will actually be the first province in the country to do so.
00:04:04.740 It's a bold move that is needed to ensure Albertans are fully supported
00:04:08.640 in their day-to-day health needs through every stage of life.
00:04:13.520 And I have no doubt that Primary Care Alberta will deliver.
00:04:18.220 I look forward to all the work Kim will be doing in the weeks and months ahead
00:04:21.720 to deliver on the agency's potential.
00:04:24.500 I'd now like to invite Dr. Kim Simmons, the new CEO of Primary Care Alberta,
00:04:29.300 to the podium. Thank you. Thank you Minister and thank you for the opportunity to take on this
00:04:39.300 important role. I'm very excited about this organization as well as the work that's underway
00:04:44.840 to refocus Alberta's health care system. As the Minister has stated numerous times, primary care
00:04:51.480 is the foundation of a solid health care system and it is the first point of contact Albertans
00:04:57.280 have when they need health care and both its strengths and weaknesses reverberate throughout
00:05:02.640 the system to make primary care in alberta as strong as it can be my goal is that albertans
00:05:08.880 have an ongoing connected trusting relationship with a primary care provider that they belong
00:05:16.000 to a health home where they don't have to tell their story over and over and that they receive
00:05:21.200 timely and seamless care to other community services to support their overall health and
00:05:26.640 well-being. As the CEO of Primary Care Alberta, I will be in charge of a dedicated organization
00:05:33.360 that supports the governance, oversight and coordination of primary care services throughout
00:05:38.960 the province of Alberta. The agency will be responsible for supporting Albertans to ensure
00:05:45.520 they have access to high quality, timely primary care services no matter where they live. There
00:05:52.720 There have been extensive consultations with primary care stakeholders throughout the modernizing Alberta's primary care system initiative, and great work is already occurring.
00:06:02.980 And these collaborative efforts will continue.
00:06:05.480 I have extensive experience working with stakeholders across the system and understand the need for data and evidence-based decision-making when it comes to delivering primary care services.
00:06:16.500 To that end, I am committed to the ongoing engagement with primary care community as primary care Alberta is established.
00:06:26.080 Talking with people in primary care is critical so we can understand the current challenges and work together to find solutions so that primary care Alberta supports improvements over the long term.
00:06:39.060 I'd like to thank Minister Lagrange for giving me this opportunity and I am very eager to get started.
00:06:43.940 Thank you.
00:06:46.500 Thank you. We'll now open the floor to questions from the media. If you could please state your name and outlet and we will be taking one question and one follow-up today. We'll start here in the room. Go ahead.
00:06:56.500 Hi, it's Boisvert, Radio-Canada. How creating this agency will help Albertan get a better access to a primary care practitioner, like in the day-to-day?
00:07:08.500 On the day-to-day aspect of it, well, having a CEO that oversees primary care, making sure that we have the right resources, the right facilities and the right locations, working with the primary care networks across the province, really focused on making sure that we have access across the whole province.
00:07:28.280 That will be part of Dr. Simmons' new responsibility.
00:07:33.840 And so that, of course, is not happening at this point in time
00:07:38.500 that we have a dedicated agency specifically focused on that.
00:07:42.840 But how will that help getting more doctors,
00:07:46.000 more primary care practitioners in Alberta?
00:07:49.180 Because that is still a problem.
00:07:51.520 Well, so we still have multi-pronged approaches
00:07:54.680 on how we're addressing the needs across the province.
00:07:59.060 We've seen over 287, I believe is the last number that I saw,
00:08:03.560 family practitioners that have moved or are in the process of moving to Alberta
00:08:07.660 that have registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons
00:08:10.500 just in the last year alone.
00:08:12.540 So that's huge numbers.
00:08:14.520 So we're seeing that.
00:08:15.740 The work that we're doing with the medical residents,
00:08:18.760 the work that we're doing with post-secondaries
00:08:20.680 and making sure that we have additional spaces for family practitioners the work that we're doing
00:08:26.440 with the nurse practitioner ability for nurse practitioners now to practice independently in
00:08:31.800 the province and have their own panel of patients all of these the pharmacy-led clinics that should
00:08:37.800 be another one again all of these intersect together and now it will be dr simmons responsibility
00:08:44.520 to make sure that we can pinpoint where we have we strategically need more people and how we can
00:08:51.880 recruit additional supports and resources across the province so it really is about having someone
00:08:58.040 who's laser focused on making sure that we have just not you know family practitioners but also
00:09:05.080 the whole team that supports a health home for people and making sure that they're available
00:09:11.480 right across the province thank you not sure if dr simmons there's anything you'd like to add to that
00:09:17.400 hi terry from ctv calgary um i'd like to talk to you about vaccines today with the rollout of the
00:09:21.880 fall immunization program we're hearing some pharmacies in calgary still haven't received
00:09:26.680 their covid shots do you know if that's isolated to calgary why or is it province-wide well my
00:09:32.600 understanding is that the suppliers that are distributing our distributors a couple of them
00:09:38.920 or one in particular has had a little bit of a glitch, but I am assured that they are rolling out
00:09:45.960 the vaccine products, the vaccines themselves, to pharmacies and to the AHS clinics and will have
00:09:54.040 everyone fully supplied by the end of the week. Do you know which manufacturer that is then?
00:09:59.800 It's not a manufacturing issue. I believe it is a distribution issue.
00:10:04.120 Okay and my follow-up question is just about the campaign itself. A lot of critics have said that
00:10:11.800 there hasn't been enough, sorry the word's escaping me, but that there hasn't been enough
00:10:18.840 basically of a campaign reminding Albertans that this is the time to get their vaccine clinic.
00:10:23.560 Is this a directive from yourself or from your ministry? Do you share similar concerns?
00:10:28.280 We spent you know approximately a half a million dollars last year to make people aware of the
00:10:33.880 vaccine and the vaccine rolls out roll out and make sure that we reach all people we're doing
00:10:38.760 the same this year so that nothing has changed um i i just think you know people perhaps are
00:10:45.000 are looking at it differently but i mean it it always happens around the same time of year we
00:10:50.120 we continually put that information out and my understanding was when we spent about half a
00:10:56.120 million dollars last year that that was more than double that what was spent in previous
00:11:01.080 years on their rollouts so we continue to make sure that we get the information out to
00:11:06.280 to everyone um as quickly and as as concisely as we can and we'll continue to do so again we're
00:11:12.840 not spending any less we're actually spending the same as we did last year to make sure information
00:11:17.400 gets out there thank you thank you morning edward from city news i was wondering if there was going
00:11:23.400 to be a date uh in terms of when this new agency will be up and running well the agency will be up
00:11:29.480 and running by november 1st but again there's a lot of work for dr simmons to do and so we will
00:11:36.120 work closely together to make sure that she's able to start you know hit hit the ground running i i
00:11:42.840 know i know dr simmons is very energetic and she has a lot of great ideas and she's a person who
00:11:51.320 is results orientated so i'm i'm expecting that she'll be hitting the ground running as of today
00:11:57.560 And are there any job losses expected between the transfer now from AHS to now to this new agency?
00:12:04.560 Well, to talk about any transfers is premature.
00:12:07.560 To say the least, Dr. Simmons has a lot of work ahead of her to set up the agency and make sure that she's connecting with the primary care networks,
00:12:17.560 with the primary care clinics that are happening across the province.
00:12:22.560 There's just a lot of work that she's got ahead of her.
00:12:26.560 So to talk about any transfers is very premature.
00:12:29.560 Thank you.
00:12:31.560 Hi there, Jordan with CTV news.
00:12:33.560 Last week, Minister, the premier was asked about homeopathy and alternative care
00:12:37.560 and whether Alberta would provide any coverage for those types of alternative care.
00:12:41.560 Something the premier said that she loved what the questioner was asking.
00:12:45.560 Is Alberta considering providing any type of coverage or support
00:12:49.560 for those alternative care models, such as homeopathy?
00:12:53.560 Well, we'll continue to have discussions with that organization.
00:12:57.560 I know that a lot of Albertans value the services that they get from homeopaths,
00:13:05.560 but there needs to be a lot more discussion.
00:13:09.560 What have those discussions looked like so far,
00:13:11.560 and is there any timeline on a possible decision for something like that?
00:13:15.560 We've met on a couple of occasions thus far.
00:13:18.560 They've put forward ideas and thoughts on what they'd like to see happen.
00:13:23.560 Of course, there's other programs.
00:13:25.560 There's bills that the federal government has put forward that could impact the work that's being done as well.
00:13:32.560 So I would say it's just been in discussion phase thus far.
00:13:37.560 Okay, thank you.
00:13:38.560 We'll move to the phones.
00:13:39.560 Operator, can you put through our first caller, please?
00:13:43.560 Thank you.
00:13:44.560 Our first question comes in the line of Janet Finch from CBC Edmonton.
00:13:47.560 Hi there, I was having a look at your report that you released late last week,
00:13:54.600 the shape the way we're focusing healthcare and Alberta public engagement, what we heard.
00:13:59.720 One of the response themes from the online survey was to, quote, implement a centralized health
00:14:05.320 system. That's the opposite of what you're doing right now. So how do you plan to honor that
00:14:09.320 feedback that you heard from Albertans? Well, what we heard a lot from Albertans,
00:14:13.560 And in particular, you know, we did hear, as you say, in that report that was informed by the surveys and the in-person, et cetera.
00:14:25.880 But what also we heard through the maps, which was the Modernizing Alberta's Primary Care System engagement sessions,
00:14:34.180 was that we need oversight of the primary care, whole continuum of care within primary care,
00:14:43.220 because that has been lacking and so to have the ability to have oversight of primary care is
00:14:49.940 essential to moving things forward within the system so that's something that we heard loud and
00:14:54.820 clear on numerous occasions do you have a follow-up janet sorry my mute button got stuck i was also
00:15:08.420 I'm also struck by the systemic barriers this report says indigenous people face when they're trying to access health care.
00:15:14.300 So your report says, quote, systemic racism within Alberta's health care system affects service levels both consciously and subconsciously leading to lower quality or inappropriate care for indigenous people due to stereotypes and biases.
00:15:27.620 So first of all, I wanted to know, do you agree that there's systemic racism in the health care system as this report indicates?
00:15:32.560 And can you explain to me how this restructuring is tackling that issue in specific?
00:15:36.180 Well, and again, that is what we heard from individuals themselves as they've tried to access the system.
00:15:44.580 I would say what we are doing, for the first time ever, we actually have, I have an Assistant Deputy Minister of Indigenous Health
00:15:52.780 that is working very diligently with Indigenous communities across the province to look at how we can address these very issues.
00:16:01.480 We also had, when we had the modernizing Alberta's primary care system, we also had indigenous modernizing primary care engagement as well.
00:16:12.860 And we did hear through that they feel strongly that they do suffer from racism and acts of discrimination.
00:16:23.000 And so we are tackling that.
00:16:24.620 We've got numerous projects already on the go, including patient navigators, looking at anti-racism toolkits, doing more education, et cetera, culturally appropriate care in facilities and areas where we have a lot of Indigenous individuals seeking care.
00:16:46.400 So there's a lot of steps that we're looking to address that, but that is what we heard from them, that they do feel that there is racism within the organization.
00:16:58.200 Operator, can you put through our next caller, please?
00:17:01.560 Your next question comes from the line is Graham Thompson from Toronto Star.
00:17:05.400 Please proceed.
00:17:06.960 Hey, Minister, it's Graham Thompson.
00:17:10.280 Regarding this primary care, how much will this cost, this new system, and how will you pay for it?
00:17:17.040 Well, primary care already has some structures in place, but they're not integrated.
00:17:24.100 So we do have primary care networks.
00:17:26.420 We have obviously physicians who have their own clinics.
00:17:29.900 We have a number of other programs that, you know, like 811, et cetera, that operate.
00:17:35.940 There's a lot of systems that we already have in place that need to be better coordinated
00:17:42.180 and actually integrated with the overall system as well.
00:17:45.740 we are looking to stand this up we already know that there are dollars allocated even within
00:17:53.180 Alberta Health Services budget for primary care even though that it wasn't one of their main
00:17:57.960 focuses so again we're looking at how to resource this but we are continuing to make sure that Dr.
00:18:05.900 Simmons has what she needs to set things up okay I have a follow-up can you hear me yes
00:18:13.300 A second question, Minister.
00:18:15.340 This came out over the summer.
00:18:17.340 There's free hockey tickets in Sam Raich.
00:18:19.340 Just wondering, did you take any free hockey tickets?
00:18:21.340 Speaking of Sam Raich, is he doing any other business
00:18:24.340 with the Alberta government, Alberta health?
00:18:27.340 I've heard he's actually got a surgical clinic in Edmonton.
00:18:30.340 I did not go to any of the hockey games.
00:18:33.340 The regular season or the, you know,
00:18:38.300 the regular season
00:18:41.240 or the
00:18:43.280 playoff season.
00:18:44.840 So I can assure you of that.
00:18:47.300 And I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear
00:18:50.340 the full question.
00:18:53.340 The last part of the question is
00:18:56.360 one of the issues that came up with
00:18:59.360 hockey tickets is Sam Raich
00:19:01.360 with MH Care.
00:19:03.360 I was wondering, he did the so-called
00:19:06.320 is involved in that, but is he involved in anything else with the Alberta government or Alberta Health?
00:19:12.560 Because I've heard he's got a surgical clinic in Edmonton.
00:19:15.220 My question is, is the government, Alberta Health, whatever, doing more business with Sam Raich?
00:19:21.280 I am not familiar with that individual, to tell you the truth.
00:19:25.020 And I am very much in favour of making sure that we work with providers that, you know, if they actually put an RFP in and they win the RFP, that everything is done above board.
00:19:44.080 So I am not sure on that individual, but we have Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health
00:19:53.640 continue to make sure that we provide services to Albertans and that the processes that are
00:20:00.620 in place are followed.
00:20:02.720 Thank you, Graham.
00:20:03.740 Operator, next caller, please.
00:20:06.700 Your next question comes from the line of Jonathan Bradfield from Western Standard.
00:20:10.600 Please proceed.
00:20:11.160 You spoke about how you want primary care Alberta to become operational later this fall but there remains a ton of work to be done for that to happen.
00:20:25.040 What do you anticipate being the largest challenges to setting up primary care Alberta?
00:20:29.820 There's a lot of individual clinics, there's primary care networks that already function across the province.
00:20:38.780 We have a lot of integrated services that could be better integrated.
00:20:44.960 And so I would say there's just a lot of work that needs to be done to just make sure all of those pieces come together and function under the new primary care banner.
00:20:57.660 I know Dr. Simmons probably has put some thought into this as well and would probably like to share a few thoughts as well.
00:21:05.680 Thank you for the question.
00:21:06.980 I think one of the most important things we need to do is make sure that we can take all of those pieces of the puzzle and put them together so that we build the right collaborative structure for governance to be able to work together.
00:21:19.580 One of the real strengths of this is having a dedicated organization that focuses on primary care, which is the foundation of the health care system, and I fundamentally believe the most critical piece of health care.
00:21:32.180 And so making sure we can bring people together, that we can have a common understanding of the goals we're working towards, and that we can set up really strong governance so that there's the ability to share information back and forth between the system is going to be, you know, the very first thing that we need to set up.
00:21:49.120 And then after that, of course, there's all of the to do's to roll out the strategic plan to make sure that people have access to timely care, that we have a chronic disease management system that works really well, that we have interoperative health systems so that your health record goes with you.
00:22:05.660 So there's a thousand pieces that need to go. But the first piece is, is that we need to make sure we have all the pieces of the puzzle and that we can collaborate together in a trusting way so that we can set up strong governance to move forward.
00:22:17.960 I hope that answered your question.
00:22:20.960 Okay.
00:22:22.960 My follow-up pertains to Kim Simon being appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Primary Care
00:22:31.200 Alberta.
00:22:32.200 So Minister LaGrange, why did you feel Simon was the best choice to become a PCA CEO?
00:22:39.580 Because she has excellent skill sets.
00:22:42.420 She's results-orientated.
00:22:44.820 She's got a long history of working within the healthcare system. 1.00
00:22:53.320 I think I'll turn it over to Kim to share some of her background and what she's been
00:22:58.360 able to do in the past.
00:23:00.700 Thanks again.
00:23:05.140 So I love to do things and I love to solve problems.
00:23:08.080 So I have said that I'm a failed academic and a failed public servant, but I don't think
00:23:13.100 that's the way to say it.
00:23:14.360 i have worked in academia i've worked doing research i've worked actually with alberta
00:23:18.680 health services when it was created to set up surgical site infection programs
00:23:22.840 so i've worked all through the system i've worked in rural alberta i've worked in calgary i've worked
00:23:27.160 in edmonton um so i bring a wealth of different perspectives on the system but i i think
00:23:33.880 fundamentally as the minister pointed out i love to be able to check off a to-do list and i love
00:23:40.040 I would love to be able to show results.
00:23:42.080 And there's really nothing I'd like more
00:23:44.040 than to show Albertans that we can have
00:23:46.040 the strongest primary health system
00:23:48.040 in the province.
00:23:50.040 Does that answer your question?
00:23:52.060 I feel like I'm in a job interview.
00:23:54.060 Okay, thanks.
00:23:56.060 Thanks, Jonathan.
00:23:58.060 Operator, can you put through our next caller, please?
00:24:00.060 Our next question comes to the line of Jennifer Lee
00:24:04.060 from CBC News.
00:24:06.060 Please proceed.
00:24:08.060 Hi, thanks for taking my question.
00:24:10.040 The next question is for the minister.
00:24:12.440 Minister, your government has been
00:24:15.080 criticized for not announcing a new
00:24:17.680 payment model for family doctors by
00:24:20.040 September as promised.
00:24:21.620 I've heard, I think you mentioned earlier
00:24:24.460 a November 1 launch for this
00:24:26.460 organization and I'm wondering how
00:24:29.160 can the work with this new primary care
00:24:32.160 organization proceed without having that
00:24:34.500 piece of the puzzle in place and when do
00:24:37.360 you expect to announce that new payment
00:24:39.040 well and just to clarify that you know we did have an agreement with the alberta medical
00:24:44.960 association on all physician compensation that was signed just two years ago so the negotiations
00:24:51.200 that we've been doing on developing the new physician primary care compensation model really
00:24:59.280 is off the regular cycle of negotiations with physicians the original agreement that we signed
00:25:06.000 was a four-year agreement that was signed two years ago for all physicians of which family
00:25:11.760 physicians primary care physicians received a five percent over four-year increase so this new model
00:25:18.800 is really to again recognize that family medicine that primary care rural generalists really are
00:25:28.560 experiencing additional issues and concerns that need to be addressed but i also want to remind
00:25:35.680 everyone that just last november i also dedicated an additional 257 million dollars to stabilize
00:25:44.560 primary care while we were working towards the new model and bringing that forward and so 157
00:25:52.640 million of that has been already allocated out to family medicine in this year and there's another
00:26:00.000 hundred million allocated for next year so as we continue to support primary care and as dr simmons
00:26:08.480 has already mentioned there's a lot of work that has to be done with a lot of health care
00:26:13.280 professionals including primary care physicians to make sure this new agency gets up and running
00:26:19.760 so she'll be working closely with clinics and primary care networks and all of the other
00:26:24.720 allied health professionals that are involved in primary care
00:26:30.000 Just to follow up on that, that model that we're talking about here, you had said would
00:26:40.440 be announced in September.
00:26:42.660 That didn't happen.
00:26:43.660 You're now proceeding with this launch of the primary care organization.
00:26:48.680 What does that mean for the timeline for announcing that new model?
00:26:52.280 When can it be expected?
00:26:54.700 And I'll just remind everybody what the timeframes of what I'd agreed with the AMA on was that
00:27:03.420 last November we signed a memorandum of understanding that we would work towards developing new
00:27:09.020 compensation model.
00:27:10.700 In the spring, we announced that we had actually come up with the framework for a new model.
00:27:17.440 It had to go to rate review.
00:27:19.440 That rate review after it was done was coming to myself here in the fall.
00:27:24.280 I believe we're still in fall.
00:27:26.280 And so there's work to be done.
00:27:29.280 You know, it has to go through a number of steps,
00:27:32.740 including treasury board, which also has to be done
00:27:36.960 because we wanna make sure it's sustainable.
00:27:39.460 I think I've shared examples in previous interviews
00:27:43.240 where we, you know, we had as a government
00:27:47.080 allocated millions of dollars to setting up IT systems.
00:27:50.600 And I'll give you an example,
00:27:51.540 the blended capitation model.
00:27:53.960 And, you know, after that was set up, when we had spent millions to set up the IT, only 18 doctors, I believe it was about 18 doctors, actually signed on to it.
00:28:06.760 We want to make sure that this model is successful, that it in fact will do what we want it to do, and that it will in fact, you know, have many, many doctors.
00:28:18.980 So, there's roughly about 5,000 physicians that are family practitioners.
00:28:25.160 We would like to see the majority of them sign on to it.
00:28:27.520 So, we want to make sure it's successful.
00:28:29.660 Operator, next caller, please.
00:28:32.500 Your next caller comes from the line of Jack Fowle from the condition pass.
00:28:37.540 Please proceed.
00:28:38.540 Hi.
00:28:39.540 I'm not sure which question or who would you best answer the question, sorry, but I am
00:28:46.140 I'm curious, will primary care Alberta be public-facing when you say that this organization will be accountable for primary care, accountable to the public, or will primary care Alberta be more internal-facing and the organization focused on working with the primary care network?
00:29:03.940 What side of that is this organization on?
00:29:06.780 It will be both. There will be a lot of work that happens behind the scenes, but there will also be a public-facing website, et cetera, that we'll share with Albertans as we move along the continuum.
00:29:21.100 I really believe it's important for us to be transparent and to be able to share what's happening and make sure that Albertans know.
00:29:30.520 I know that Dr. Simmons probably has some ideas in terms of how we can better utilize technology as well
00:29:40.440 to make sure that it's integrated across all of the health care continuum
00:29:45.380 and that we are able to, you know, primary care still needs to be able to intersect very closely with acute care,
00:29:53.400 continuing care and, of course, Recovery Alberta as well.
00:29:57.960 So there's a lot to be done behind the scenes, but there's also a need to make sure that there's a public-facing website and communication.
00:30:09.720 Is there anything to add?
00:30:10.640 And then as a follow-up, I'm curious, like you both said today that, you know, primary care is like the foundational level of health care.
00:30:21.720 And because it's so foundational, I'm kind of struggling to connect how this organization will operate differently than AHS.
00:30:29.320 Like, obviously, since primary care is such a foundational level of health care, AHS certainly wasn't ignoring it, I'm sure.
00:30:36.400 Unless, you know, you have something to say differently there.
00:30:38.460 But how exactly will this organization operate differently and essentially, like, do better than AHS is doing?
00:30:44.640 Like, how exactly will this organization do better?
00:30:48.100 Well, Alberta Health Services really has a lot of different areas that it is focused on.
00:30:54.420 And primary care, while it did supply some of the clinics that are out there and some strategic areas, it didn't focus on primary care.
00:31:10.100 And so what we were hearing from primary care networks and from clinics, et cetera, and allied health care professionals across the province, particularly when we did the Modernizing Alberta's Primary Care System engagement, which was really quite extensive, was that we needed dedicated leadership that was really focused on primary care.
00:31:34.800 And that has not been happening at the Alberta Health Services level.
00:31:39.540 And so, you know, as even Alberta Health Services transitions to being an acute care provider,
00:31:45.960 very focused on making sure that they provide excellent acute care.
00:31:49.740 We need to make sure that primary care is not lost or forgotten.
00:31:54.320 And that's why we have a dedicated agency for primary care.
00:31:59.440 Okay, thank you.
00:32:00.600 We're going to move on to our final caller.
00:32:02.280 Operator, can you please put them through?
00:32:04.800 Your next question comes to the line of
00:32:07.840 Alana Smith from Globe and Mail.
00:32:09.840 Please proceed.
00:32:10.840 Hi, thanks for taking my question.
00:32:12.840 Can you hear me okay?
00:32:13.840 Yes.
00:32:14.840 Awesome.
00:32:15.840 So I just wanted to go back a bit to the
00:32:18.840 annual vaccination campaign obviously with
00:32:20.860 flu shots being available today and I'm assuming
00:32:23.860 COVID-19 boosters as well.
00:32:25.860 Will AHS be doing its annual media availability
00:32:28.860 and press release today and will AHS be allowed
00:32:31.860 to speak with media with their healthcare
00:32:34.800 about immunization effectiveness you know what I I would assume that they
00:32:41.120 would be doing what they typically do we have you know I continue to to meet
00:32:49.140 with the CEO of Alberta Health Services but the discussion around immunization
00:32:55.200 has always been making sure that we have the product at the clinics the HS
00:33:00.420 clinics as well as the pharmacies etc available and that albertans were able to book their
00:33:06.900 appointments and i anticipate that alberta health services will will do their media avails as they
00:33:14.260 typically would maybe a follow-up on that then um you know last year we had revealed in the
00:33:21.620 open mail that the government had actually ordered ahs to remove references to specific vaccines
00:33:27.300 in last year's vaccination campaign also that the government instructed the health authority to limit
00:33:31.940 information on vaccine benefits also on vaccine efficient efficacy and so i guess i'm wondering i
00:33:38.820 know you said you know ahs will do what it does but ahs has also been directed by the government to
00:33:42.820 do certain things as it relates to the immunization campaign so what direction if any has the alberta
00:33:48.020 government given ahs this season when it comes to the immunization campaign well alberta health
00:33:53.940 services on a regular basis reviews its processes and its communications in a post-pandemic everyone
00:34:02.900 is looking at making sure that respiratory virus season incorporates all the respiratory viruses
00:34:09.300 that are out there including flu including rsv including covet and so the changes that
00:34:16.820 Alberta Health Services has made has been in consultation with a lot of their expertise
00:34:26.100 within their organization and within Alberta Health to look at you know what are the viruses
00:34:31.780 what are the strains that are going to be most prevalent in this upcoming year and how do we
00:34:37.060 address those and how do we make sure that we have capacity within our acute care system
00:34:42.660 should we need it because typically we do see more individuals coming to our acute care system
00:34:49.780 utilizing our acute care system through respiratory virus season so i know that they've added
00:34:54.340 additional surge beds and they've added additional staff or in the process of adding additional staff
00:34:59.940 to make sure that those beds have staffing that go along with them to meet the demand that we see
00:35:06.100 every single year and so again post pandemic we're looking at all respiratory virus season
00:35:13.140 including all of the viruses that are out there okay and we'll end it there thank you everybody
00:35:19.940 Thanks everyone.