Chief Alberta paramedic Sandbeck to leave his position in early January

Alberta's chief paramedic is leaving his post early next year.

An Alberta Health Services spokesperson confirmed Friday that Darren Sandbeck will no longer be with AHS as of Jan. 9. No further details were given about the circumstances of his departure.

“AHS appreciates the expertise and skills that (Sandbeck) has brought to the organization, and to emergency medical services in Alberta,” an AHS statement said.

Sandbeck declined to comment when reached by Postmedia on Friday. He has been Alberta's chief paramedic and the AHS senior provincial director of emergency medical since 2014, and he's been at the helm of EMS as the system recently struggled under immense pressure, with 911 call volumes for ambulances increasing by 30 per cent in 2021.

There have also been concerns about Albertans facing long waits for ambulances as red alerts — times when there are no available ambulances to respond to 911 calls in a given area — increased compared to previous years.

At the beginning of 2022, the Alberta government struck an EMS advisory committee and Sandbeck rolled out a 10-point plan aimed at easing the strain. There's been a push to hire more paramedics and manage staff fatigue, and in recent months, more ambulances came into service in Edmonton and Calgary.

According to AHS, interim EMS leadership is being put in place, and the health authority will continue to pursue improvements outlined in the 10-point plan.

Health Sciences Association of Alberta president Mike Parker, who represents the province's paramedics and emergency communications officers, called for a “quick transition.”

The latest health personnel turnover in Alberta comes after the health minister revealed this week that the two deputy chief medical officers of health had resigned, less than a month after former chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw's removal.

Last month, the AHS board was dismantled in favour of a temporary official administrator, and AHS has also had an interim president and CEO since former leader Dr. Verna Yiu was ousted in the spring.