UCP, NDP trade barbs over early departure of AHS boss

The Alberta government and Opposition NDP took shots at each other's records on health Tuesday as the NDP released internal communication documents on former AHS CEO Verna Yiu's departure.

The documents, obtained by the NDP through a freedom of information request, show the preparation of key government messages about Yiu leaving her position in early April — more than a year before her contract was set to expire.

The document includes guidance on answers to questions that may be asked about the announcement, such as whether Yiu will get a payout and when a new CEO will be in place.

One of the anticipated questions is “why are you throwing the system into chaos?”

Point-form responses reference the AHS recruitment process already underway for a new CEO, adding that AHS will ensure an “orderly transition” to the next leader.

NDP health critic David Shepherd accused the UCP of knowing Yiu's departure wouldn't go over well with health-care workers, but they “tried to spin it as a non-issue.”

In a statement, Steve Buick, press secretary for Health Minister Jason Copping, called the NDP'S move “desperate.”

“The NDP today are trying to make an issue of the fact that the government prepared messages on the departure of the (AHS) CEO. Of course we did, as I'm sure the NDP did when Dr. Yiu was appointed — after the previous CEO, Vickie Kaminski, released her resignation letter accusing the NDP of intolerable political interference.”

Kaminski left AHS in 2016, halfway through her contract, because of what she described as the former NDP government's “troubling” practice of micromanaging and second-guessing her decisions and administration.

According to the letter, obtained at the time by CBC News, Kaminski wrote to the new AHS board that she felt the government's heavy-handedness was putting her professional reputation in jeopardy.

Neither Alberta Health nor AHS has confirmed to Postmedia whether Yiu was fired or resigned, but AHS said last month that Yiu will receive a severance payment of one year's salary, more than $573,000, something guaranteed in her contract if she was fired “without just cause.”