UCP leader open to private health care

EDMON TON • Alberta Opposition Leader Jason Kenney says a United Conservative government would work to reduce bureaucratic bloat in health care and explore private delivery options.

Privately delivered care for minor procedures is improving wait times in other jurisdictions and any changes he made would still be funded under public health, Kenney said Wednesday.

“We’re open to that kind of common-sense competition,” he told a news conference at an Edmonton seniors home.

Alberta already contracts out some care such as eye procedures.

Kenney made the comments as he revealed the broad strokes of his party’s health platform ahead of the spring election.

Alberta’s health spending is $22 billion this year, about 40 per cent of the total budget. Kenney promised to keep spending at current levels, but not increase it.

“With the most expensive health system in Canada, I believe we can find some savings to do things more efficiently without affecting front-line services,” he said.

“This is a guarantee to reallocate any savings found to the front-lines to improve quality care.”

The NDP government under Premier Rachel Notley has resisted deep cuts to health and education, and funding has taken into account population growth and inflation. But in doing so the New Democrats have racked up multibillion-dollar budget deficits and a debt forecast to reach $96 billion by 2024.

Kenney said health results are not matching the cash outlay. Wait times for cataract surgeries and knee and hip replacements are going up, he added.

He said a UCP government would launch a thirdparty review of the province’s arm’s-length health delivery agency known as Alberta Health Services to target redundancies and inefficiencies in 4,000 management positions.

The review would include talks with front-line staff and would help determine ways to improve health-care delivery, he said. A report would be expected by the end of the year and would frame decisions in the 2020 budget.

Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said a freeze on health spending would be devastating given Alberta’s rapidly growing and aging population.

She agreed wait times for cataract surgeries and knee and hip replacements need to be addressed, but noted breast cancer surgery wait times are down, as are waits for radiation treatments.

Jason Kenney