HEALTH BOSS CALLS IT QUITS
ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES SUPPORTS DR. CHRIS EAGLE’S ‘PERSONAL’ DECISION, DENIES ANY EFFORT TO PUSH HIM OUT
The turmoil at the top of Alberta Health Services continued Thursday, but Health Minister Fred Horne insisted the changes aren’t causing instability in the health-care system.
But the announcement by Dr. Chris Eagle that he is stepping down as chief executive and president of AHS was greeted by opposition parties and health-care workers as another sign of disarray in a troubled system.
Eagle’s departure — which he said in a statement was “personal and very difficult” — comes hard on the heels of an overhaul of the entire organizational structure of AHS, including the firing of its board and the departure of several senior executives.
It also follows some heavy criticism levelled at AHS’s actions under Eagle by Horne.
But Horne — who praised Eagle for his work Thursday — said he played no role in the CEO’s decision to leave and maintained there has been no shakeup within AHS.
“It is normal in large organizations to see changes in both organizational structure and leadership,” he said. “There have been a number of changes recently and we want to see as much stability as possible, but that doesn’t stop us from always trying to do better.”
But unions representing health-care workers, such as the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, said there is a “management crisis” in AHS that is negatively affecting the health system.
Jane Sustrik, second vicepresident of the United Nurses of Alberta, said Eagle’s exit is another blow to a health system that has already had too many.
“We are in a constant state of upheaval, we don’t seem to have any consistency in the organization’s leadership for any length of time and I think it’s difficult for staff and probably Albertans to have confidence in the system,” said Sustrik.
Duncan Campbell, AHS’s vice-president of administration and chief financial officer, has been appointed acting CEO and president of AHS. Campbell has previously held senior leadership roles with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
AHS will launch an international search for a CEO.
Eagle had a base salary of $580,000 and, with non-cash benefits included, received $833,000 in compensation in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013. Remuneration for Campbell and the next CEO has not yet been determined.
Wildrose health critic Heather Forsyth said Eagle had a “rocky” tenure as AHS’s leader but that Alison Redford’s government had made a habit of using public servants as scapegoats.
She said simply making changes to the top of AHS won’t lead to improvements in the organization.
“Dismantle the whole damn thing,” said Forsyth.
The Liberals and NDP said Eagle’s departure was a sad but inevitable conclusion for a man caught between his desire to serve patients and the political demands of Horne.
“My surprise is that he has lasted this long, frankly,” said Liberal health critic David Swann. “He has been in an impossible situation with a meddling minister.”
NDP critic David Eggen said he was pessimistic anything would get better until AHS is brought fully within the health ministry.
“You can’t just hire someone like Dr. Eagle to be your fall guy over and over again. Sometimes the blame has to come back and the responsibility has to come back to the people who are actually making the decisions, which are Premier Redford and the health minister.”
Eggen said the final straw for Eagle was likely Horne’s demand last week that he apologize to Albertans for problems in home care.
Eagle, who became president in 2010 following the ouster of the controversial Stephen Duckett in 2010, refused to do interviews Thursday. In his statement, he said it was a time for “fresh eyes and fresh energy at the helm.”
Dr. John Cowell, the recently appointed administrator of the health-care umbrella organization, told reporters there had been no pressure from Horne.
“This is a decision that Dr. Eagle and I have been thinking together about for the last week or so. He feels strongly the time has come for him to step aside for personal and organizational reasons. And I agree with him,” Cowell said in Calgary.
Eagle will not receive severance but will use earned vacation time to take off at least eight weeks, said Cowell. Eagle will also take a sabbatical of up to three months to train for a different role with AHS before returning to the organization. He will formally leave AHS on Oct. 20, 2014.