Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single health authority for the Canadian province of Alberta.
Alberta Health Services delivers medical care on behalf of the Government of Alberta's Ministry of Health through 400 facilities throughout the province, including hospitals, clinics, continuing care facilities, mental health facilities and community health sites, while providing a variety of programs and services.
AHS is the largest single health authority in Canada and is the largest employer in the province of Alberta as well as being the fifth largest single employer in Canada.
Alberta Health Services is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta.
Video Alberta Health Services
History
Alberta Health Services was created as a "superboard" in May 2008 with the controversial abolition of the following regional health authorities:
- Aspen Health Region
- Calgary Health Region
- Capital Health Region
- Chinook Health Region
- David Thompson Health Region
- East Central Health Region
- Northern Lights Health Region
- Palliser Health Region
- Peace Country Health Region
as well as the following agencies:
- Alberta Mental Health Board
- Alberta Cancer Board
- Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission
Health services in Alberta have undergone several governance reorganization attempts in recent decades, with successively fewer separate public organizational entities.
Maps Alberta Health Services
Mission and organization
Alberta Health Services has articulated three broad goals (access, quality and sustainability) which expand into eight 'areas of focus' (e.g. improving access, fit for the future, learning and improving) and 20 strategic priorities.
Alberta Health Services has been organized so as to separate acute hospital facilities (with separate reporting lines for major tertiary, metropolitan and regional hospitals) from smaller hospitals and community services, the latter of which are organized into five zones (North, Edmonton, Central, Calgary and South). The Calgary Zone, for example, includes some sites and services formerly administered by the Calgary Health Region while other services have been reorganized on a provincial scale.
Executive Leadership
Edmonton-based Dr.Stephen Duckett was the inaugural President and Chief Executive Officer of Alberta Health Services, taking up the role on 23 March 2009. He was replaced on 23 November 2010 by Dr. Chris Eagle who resigned on 17 October 2013. Vickie Kaminski was CEO from May 2014 until her resignation in late 2015. Dr. Verna Yiu became the CEO on 03 June 2016 after serving as Interim CEO following Ms. Kaminski's resignation.
Board Governance
The organization was initially overseen by a Board of Directors, followed by an Official Administrator, and most recently, again by a Board of Directors.
On 12 June 2013, Minister of Health Fred Horne fired the entire AHS Board over its refusal to cancel executive bonuses. Three days later, Janet Davidson was appointed the AHS Official Administrator by Minister Horne to act in place of its Board of Directors. On 12 September 2013, Dr. John W. F. Cowell replaced Davidson as the Official Administrator. AHS has subsequently had Dr. Carl Amrhein and David Carpenter as Official Administrators.
The Alberta Health Services Board has been re-introduced, effective 27 November 2015 with Linda Hughes appointed as the Board Chair.
Employees
Alberta Health Services employs over 108,000 staff and more than 7,700 physicians, including clinical, administrative and support personnel across the province. Staff belong to a variety of professional organizations and associations, including United Nurses of Alberta, several locals of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.
Facilities
AHS maintains and runs a number of different types of facilities and services. These include:
- Cancer Care
- For the prevention, detection, treatment, education and care of cancer patients, as well as to facilitate research of cancer.
- Continuing and Long-Term Care
- For the treatment of patients with complex health needs requiring 24-hour on-site services from registered nurses.
- Emergency
- For immediate care of patients with all types of conditions.
- Hospitals
- For medical, surgical, or psychiatric care of the sick and injured.
- Labs
- For the processing of medical samples and tests.
- Mental Health & Addictions
- For treatment and care of patients diagnosed with mental health or addiction issues.
- Emergency Medical Services
- AHS is directly responsible for both ground and air ambulance operations in the province, provided through a mix of both direct delivery and contracted providers.
- Other
- A wider array of miscellaneous health facilities include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, home care, hemodialysis and others, and also include Public Health Centres which provide services such as prenatal, postpartum, health promotion/disease and injury prevention, bereavement services, communicable disease and school health. They also fund affordable housing for seniors at facilities, such as Silvera for Seniors.
- Urgent Care
- To treat patients with unexpected but not life-threatening issues requiring same day treatment.
- X-Ray & Imaging Clinics
- For procedures such as MRIs, X-Rays and other types of scans.
South Zone
The south zone includes major centres such as Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Serving approximately 300,000 Albertan's. A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. South Zone includes
- Big Country Health Centre (Oyen)
- Bassano Health Centre (Bassano)
- Bow Island Health Centre (Bow Island)
- Brooks Health Centre (Brooks)
- Cardston Health Centre (Cardston)
- Chinook Regional Hospital (Lethbridge)
- Coaldale Health Centre (Coaldale)
- Crowsnest Pass Health Centre (Blairmore)
- Fort Macleod Health Centre (Fort Macleod)
- Medicine Hat Regional Hospital (Medicine Hat)
- Milk River Health Centre (Milk River)
- Piiyami Health Centre (Picture Butte)
- Pincher Creek Health Centre (Pincher Creek)
- Raymond Health Centre (Raymond)
- Taber Health Centre (Taber)
Calgary Zone
The Calgary Zone administrative offices are located in the Southland Park business complex. Calgary Zone comprises territory formerly administered by the former Calgary Health Region and includes five major acute care sites (hospitals) including Foothills Medical Centre, Peter Lougheed Centre, Rockyview General Hospital, South Health Campus, and Alberta Children's Hospital. Serving approximately 1,400,000 Albertan's. A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. Calgary Zone includes
- Canmore General Hospital (Canmore)
- Claresholm General Hospital (Claresholm)
Central Zone
The central zone includes major centres such as Red Deer. Serving approximately 450,000 Albertan's. A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. Central Zone includes
- Castor - Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital (Castor)
- Consort Hospital and Care Centre (Consort)
- Coronation Hospital and Care Centre (Coronation)
Edmonton Zone
The Edmonton Zone administrative offices are located in Seventh Street Plaza. Edmonton Zone comprises territory formerly administered by the Capital Health Region and includes eight acute care sites (hospitals) in the metropolitan area, which include: University of Alberta Hospital (Edmonton), Royal Alexandra Hospital (Edmonton), Grey Nuns Hospital (Edmonton), Misericordia Community Hospital (Edmonton), Sturgeon Community Hospital (St. Albert), Leduc Community Hospital (Leduc), WestView Health Centre (Stony Plain), Fort Saskatchewan Community Hospital (Fort Saskatchewan), and Strathcona Community Hospital (Sherwood Park). Serving approximately 1.2 million Albertans. A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. Edmonton Zone includes
North Zone
The north zone includes major centres such as Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray. Serving approximately 450,000 Albertan's. A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. North Zone includes
- Queen Elizabeth II (QEII) Hospital (Grande Prairie)
- Athabasca Healthcare Centre (Athabasca)
- Barrhead Healthcare Centre (Barrhead)
- Beaverlodge Municipal Hospital (Beaverlodge)
- Bonnyville Healthcare Centre (Bonnyville)
- Boyle Healthcare Centre (Boyle)
- Central Peace Health Complex (Spirit River)
- Cold Lake Healthcare Centre (Cold Lake)
Rural Zone
A large network of hospitals are maintained in the outlying communities of Alberta. They include
- Crowsnest Pass Health Centre (Blairmore)
- Daysland Health Centre (Daysland)
- Devon General Hospital (Devon)
- Didsbury District Health Services (Didsbury)
- Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre (Drayton Valley)
- Drumheller Health Centre (Drumheller)
- Edson Healthcare Centre (Edson)
- Elk Point Healthcare Centre (Elk Point)
- Fairview Health Complex (Fairview)
- Fort McMurray Northern Lights Regional Health Centre (Fort McMurray)
- Fort Saskatchewan Health Centre (Fort Saskatchewan)
- Fort Vermilion St. Theresa General Hospital (Fort Vermilion)
- Fox Creek Health Care Centre (Fox Creek)
- Grande Cache Community Health Complex (Grande Cache)
- Grimshaw/Berwyn Community Health Complex (Grimshaw)
- Hanna Health Centre (Hanna)
- Hardisty Health Centre (Hardisty)
- High Level Northwest Health Centre (High Level)
- High Prairie Health Complex (High Prairie)
- High River General Hospital (High River)
- Hinton Healthcare Centre (Hinton)
- Innisfail Health Centre (Innisfail)
- Jasper - Seton Healthcare Centre (Jasper)
- Killam Health Care Centre (Killam)
- Lac La Biche - William J. Cadzow Healthcare Centre (Lac La Biche)
- Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre (Lacombe)
- Lamont Health Care Centre (Lamont)
- Leduc Community Hospital (Leduc)
- Manning Community Health Centre (Manning)
- Mayerthorpe Healthcare Centre (Mayerthorpe)
- Medicine Hat Regional Hospital (Medicine Hat)
- Oilfields General Hospital (Black Diamond)
- Olds Hospital and Care Centre (Olds)
- Oyen - Big Country Hospital (Oyen)
- Peace River Community Health Centre (Peace River)
- Pincher Creek Health Centre (Pincher Creek)
- Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre (Ponoka)
- Provost Health Centre (Provost)
- Queen Elizabeth II Hospital (Grande Prairie)
- Raymond Health Centre (Raymond)
- Red Deer Regional Hospital (Red Deer)
- Redwater Health Centre (Redwater)
- Rimbey Hospital and Care Centre (Rimbey)
- Rocky Mountain House Health Centre (Rocky Mountain House)
- Sacred Heart Community Health Centre (McLennan)
- Slave Lake Healthcare Centre (Slave Lake)
- Smoky Lake - George McDougall Healthcare Centre (Smoky Lake)
- St. Joseph's General Hospital (Vegreville)
- St. Mary's Hospital (Camrose)
- St. Paul - St. Therese Healthcare Centre (St. Paul)
- Stettler Hospital and Care Centre (Stettler)
- Stony Plain - WestView Health Centre (Stony Plain)
- Strathmore District Health Services (Strathmore)
- Sturgeon Community Hospital (St. Albert)
- Sundre Hospital and Care Centre (Sundre)
- Swan Hills Healthcare Centre (Swan Hills)
- Sylvan Lake Community Health Centre (Sylvan Lake)
- Taber Health Centre (Taber)
- Three Hills Health Centre (Three Hills)
- Tofield Health Centre (Tofield)
- Two Hills Health Centre (Two Hills)
- Valleyview Health Centre (Valleyview)
- Vermilion Health Centre (Vermilion)
- Viking Health Centre (Viking)
- Vulcan Community Health Centre (Vulcan)
- Wabasca/Desmarais Healthcare Centre (Wabasca)
- Wainwright Health Centre (Wainwright)
- Westlock Healthcare Centre (Westlock)
- Wetaskiwin Hospital and Care Centre (Wetaskiwin)
- Whitecourt Healthcare Centre (Whitecourt)
Emergency medical services
In addition to providing acute care, Alberta Health Services took over responsibility for all emergency medical services (EMS) from municipalities on April 1, 2009, making ground ambulances a responsibility of the provincial government.
Provincial air ambulance transitioned to AHS in April 2010. Also included in the provincial model of EMS are inter-facility hospital transfers, and EMS dispatch.
In 2013, EMS averaged about 370,000 ambulance responses annually, with approximately 30% of these being patient transfers between health care facilities, and 70% being emergency responses.
EMS is provided through a hybrid of direct delivery and contracted services. In 2013 this hybrid consisted of 204 ground ambulance locations. Practitioners include approximately 3,000 paramedics, emergency medical technicians and emergency medical responders.
There are 550 ambulances throughout the province, including 278 owned and operated by AHS.
In addition to land-based ambulances, AHS contracts 12 fixed-wing aircraft to provide 24-hour air ambulance services throughout the province. 5,500 patients were transferred by fixed-wing aircraft via contracted air ambulance providers in Alberta in 2010.
References
External links
- Alberta Health Services
Source of article : Wikipedia
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