Alberta’s new primary care agency to launch by Nov. 1 in health overhaul

The Alberta government continues to divvy up its provincial health authority, with the health minister saying the new agency responsible for primary care is expected to be up and running by Nov. 1.

Adriana LaGrange says Primary Care Alberta will work to improve access to providers like family doctors and nurse practitioners, 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) hasn’t been able to focus solely on primary care, due to 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, and that’s why we have a dedicated agency for primary care,” LaGrange said.

“We have the foundations for an excellent primary health-care system, mostly because we have excellent primary care providers in Alberta. But it can and must be better.”

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

After the transition, AHS is expected to be relegated to strictly hospital care.

Primary Care Alberta CEO appointed

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

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 reverberate throughout the system,” Simmonds said.

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

WATCH | Province’s AHS decentralization continues: 

LaGrange said it’s premature to say whether the transition from AHS to Primary Care Alberta would lead to any job losses.

She did not detail 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 to resource this, but we are continuing to make sure that Dr. Simmonds has what she needs to set things up,” LaGrange said.

New payment model not yet enacted

The province is forging ahead with the launch of Primary Care Alberta despite delays with the rollout of a new payment model for family physicians and rural generalists, which the Alberta Medical Association (AMA) has been waiting for.

Dr. Shelley Duggan, the AMA’s president, believes family doctors across Alberta require the new payment model to stabilize their practices. Duggan says she’s is unsure why it hasn’t been established yet.

“Right now, we have a whole bunch of family medicine doctors wondering if they can keep the lights on month after month,” Duggan told CBC News on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be hard for them to get involved in the organization and understand what it’s going to do when they themselves are not certain they’re going to stay open or be in the province a few months from now.”

After the province signed a memorandum of understanding with the AMA last October, Alberta’s health minister stated in April that a new payment model would be in place come this fall. 

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

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

“So far, what we’ve heard are things that it’s not going to do.… But I don’t think we’re entirely clear what it is going to do — if it’s going to be able to help in terms of stabilizing the system, recruiting more docs,” she said. 

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

Opposition comments

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

“The only difference it makes is there is a new CEO who’s got to get paid, there’s a new management layer that’s got to get paid and all of your physicians who have Alberta Health Services email addresses will likely get new email addresses,” Nenshi said.

“We’ve created a new organization, but the real decisions on funding and on training will remain in the minister’s office.”

The government’s dismantling of AHS is expected to include two more organizations responsible for hospital care and continuing care.

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