Province announces cuts to AHS

By Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The province has announced cuts to Alberta Health Services that will result in the termination of management positions and the privatization of laundry and lab services.

The cuts, made in response to recommendations from a provincial health review conducted by Ernst and Young, were announced on Oct. 13 by Health Minister Tyler Shandro. The cuts will result in the loss of about 9,700 positions, resulting in $600 million of yearly savings, according to a government press release.

No job losses for nurses or other front-line clinical staff are anticipated, said Shandro.

Included in the cuts are a minimum of 100 management positions. Additionally, a full review of senior AHS executives will be completed before the end of the fiscal year, according to the release.

The province will outsource laundry services and community lab services, first announced in 2019. To date, 68 and 70 per cent of these services, respectively, are already provided by the private sector, according to the release. Additionally, the provision of environmental and food preparation services will be reviewed for outsourcing in 2022 and 2023.

In total, outsourcing will result in AHS cutting 4,000 housekeeping jobs, 3,000 food service jobs, 2,000 laboratory jobs and 400 laundry jobs. The Times contacted the Ministry of Health to determine how many positions in Strathmore will be affected by these cuts, but no response was provided by deadline.