Dr. Paul Parks, president of the Alberta Medical Association (AMA), discusses proposed changes to health-care delivery in the province.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Michael Higgins: In a video from a recent UCP town hall in Drayton Valley, Danielle Smith discussed plans to transfer control of underperforming hospitals from Alberta Health Services (AHS) to third parties.
It comes as doctors raise concerns over staffing levels at Alberta hospitals, a situation they call critical.
This video on social media on plans to transfer control of hospitals, as head of AMA, what’s your takeaway?
Dr. Paul Parks: It’s definitely concerning in the sense of wanting to know what’s the plan, what is the big, broad picture around how we’re going to coordinate. If there are different health authorities or different clinical service providers, how are we going to coordinate and cooperate and integrate those?
So what’s the plan? It’s a bit shocking to learn about it this way, but the other piece …