MLA who blamed patients given health role
Comments about heart-attack victims taken out of context, Petrovic says
A rural United Conservative Party MLA who previously said people with heart failure should take responsibility for their own problems has been named the new parliamentary secretary to help Health Minister Adriana Lagrange.
Premier Danielle Smith announced Thursday that Chelsae Petrovic, MLA for the southern Alberta riding of Livingstone-macleod, will assist the minister as the province restructures the health-care system.
Petrovic, who has more than 13 years' experience as a licensed practical nurse, has been named parliamentary secretary for health workforce engagement, charged with consulting with health-care workers.
“Chelsae will play a pivotal role in ensuring that we continue to hear from the hard-working men and women who serve on the front lines of health care,” Smith said Thursday in a statement. “I am confident her work will help lead to a stronger system.”
The province says Petrovic will have a “critically important” job during the engagement process, which has been underway for three months.
“With her health-care background, she will bring a very important perspective to our refocusing work,” Lagrange said in a statement. “The voice of every health-care worker is critical to understanding what is actually happening on the front lines and what needs improving. Chelsae will help us incorporate those voices to strengthen the health system for all Albertans.”
Petrovic, a former Claresholm mayor, came under fire for comments that surfaced in April 2023, a few weeks before the Alberta election campaign began. The first-time UCP candidate easily won the Livingstone-macleod riding, earning roughly 67 per cent of the votes cast during the May 29 election.
On a February 2022 episode of The Canadian Story podcast, Petrovic said: “Maybe the reason you had a heart attack was because you haven't taken care of yourself. You're extremely overweight, you haven't managed your congestive heart failure, you haven't managed your diabetes and there's no personal accountability.
“But they come into the hospital and all of a sudden it's everyone else's problem but their own.”
When asked about her comments during a news conference Thursday in Edmonton, Petrovic said she stands by the statement she made when she addressed the issue last year.
“My focus right now is to really create a positive relationship with our front-line staff and our front-line workers, and that's why the minister has brought me along,” she said Thursday.
Last year, Petrovic said her comments on the podcast were taken out of context.
“I was speaking for several minutes about the challenges our health-care system is currently facing,” Petrovic said. “I understand my comment could be offensive when removed from the longer interview, and I should have chosen better language.
“I believe we should be a province that not only focuses on reactive health for those in need but also one that teaches our kids to practise healthy living, which includes taking care of our physical health.”
The Opposition NDP blasted the appointment.
“Danielle Smith has shown incredibly poor judgment in appointing, as her new parliamentary secretary in health, someone who blames Albertans suffering from heart attacks on their own lack of personal responsibility,” NDP health critic Dr. Luanne Metz said in a statement Thursday.
“The role of government should be to ensure people have public health care when and where they need it, not to judge people for their health conditions, said Metz.
“Under Smith's watch, 61 per cent of family physicians worry they may have to close their practice this year, and over 800,000 Albertans do not have access to a family doctor. Access to a family doctor is one of the most important parts of preventive care,” said the NDP'S health critic.
“Danielle Smith and Adriana Lagrange are systematically undermining public health care at every step. Appointing a new parliamentary secretary who blames patients for their ailments will cause more chaos in our public health-care system.”