Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says the new agency is charged with making primary care accessible to all Albertans. Eli J. Ridder/Pattison Media

By Eli J. Ridder

Alberta reveals new primary care agency that will launch in the fall

Oct 15, 2024 | 11:27 AM

The province’s health care system restructuring continued on Tuesday as Health Minister Adriana LaGrange revealed Primary Care Alberta, an agency charged with ensuring all Albertans are supported in their day-to-day health needs.

The new organization will launch later this fall, officials said. It’s the second of four new agencies to be announced after a mental health counterpart started operations in September.

LaGrange said the primary care division will focus on supporting integrated teams of family physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists to provide patients with the best care possible.

Its announcement marks “an important milestone in refocusing the health care system to put patients first and give our front-line experts the support they need to ensure Albertans are receiving the care they deserve,” the minister said.

As many as 800,000 Albertans don’t have access to a family doctor, according to the Alberta Medical Association.

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Kim Simmonds, current assistant deputy minister of strategic planning and performance at Alberta Health, will be appointed as Primary Care Alberta’s chief executive officer as the agency attempts to reach the unserviced Albertans.

The health ministry said in a news release that Simmonds understands the needs for data and evidence-based decision-making when it comes to delivering primary care to Albertans across the province.

“If primary care is to be the foundation on which the entire health system stands, every Albertan must have an ongoing connection and trusting relationship with a family doctor or health care team,” Simmonds said in a statement.

“They must belong to a health home where they are known and where they don’t have to tell their health story over and over again,” she added.

“There is much work to do in Alberta to achieve these goals, and I’m eager to get going to help make it happen.”

LaGrange was unable to immediately confirm if there would be any job losses when Primary Care Alberta is launched.

The ruling United Conservatives announced last year their plan to split Alberta Health Services up into four agencies that would each focus on the different elements of care.

The Alberta government says the revamp will allow it to set goals for the entire health care system and prioritize patients and workers.

Graphic released by the Alberta government last year showing the new structure for health care in the province. Handout/Government of Alberta

The Alberta Medical Association, the public employees union and others say the plan will further fragment an already weakened system and does not address the system’s core problems.

The AMA has also advocated for LaGrange to sign off on a new doctor pay deal that it says will help family physicians open clinics to by covering some of the overhead costs.

Premier Danielle Smith said during a town hall in Medicine Hat last week that the agreement would be announced “in the coming weeks” and later added the deal would be completed after negotiations with various other public employees were completed.

When the province launched its new addictions and mental health care agency Recovery Alberta earlier this month, nurses said the shift was “unsettling” and confusing.